Rewind
by EnergyMageFrea
Summary: As the Members of the S-Class Exams head off to Tenrou, Frea is left behind and forced to endure those Seven Years the Guild thought they were all dead. When the Guild returns they find that nothing is quite the same as they left it- and Frea is hardly the same person. Those seven years were long, they were filled with pain and heartache- but what did happen to change Frea so much?
1. Chapter 1- The Second Time Around

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _This is a Mini-story, that will have few, short Chapters. It revolves around Frea, starting from Book #2, but will reference Major Events and Characters from All Books (#1-3) as well. There will also be spoilers for the Tenrou Island Arc, and the Grand Magic Games Arc, as well as possible slight Spoilers for subsequent Cannon Arcs._**

 ** _In this version, History has been rewound and Frea was left behind as the Tenrou Team set off, and were subsequently trapped in Fairy Sphere for seven years._**

 _ **This is a SPOILER ALERT. If you are not up to date on the other three stories, I would suggest you read those first. (They are all complete)**_

 _ **This story is written to be out of order and fragmented, so please do not worry over continuity's sake. It was done on purpose.**_

 _ **Enjoy**_

 **.:+:.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Second Time Around**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

Not everything happens the same way twice, if given the chance to start over. What may have happened in one time, is not certain to happen in another.

No one knows why this would happen, but its one of the very many Magical mysteries that have caught the attention of Wizards throughout the ages.

The Manipulation of Time is looked down upon by most who practice Magic, the dangers of such a Magic are unknown and possibly endless, but always severe.

Its common sense; should you change something in the past, the future will be changed as a result of your actions.

So what if you were somewhere, at some certain fixed point in time, and when everything goes back, you weren't there?

It depends on what you did at the time, what happened... big or small?

What if... What if I wasn't there... When they needed me...?

 **.:+:.**

The sun began to rise up over the edge of the horizon slowly, the city of Magnolia beginning to work its way into its usual routine as the cites a of the town woke up.

The Fairy Tail Guild Hall was already bustling with activity, as to be expected when such an important announcement was about to be made. This was only about a week or so since Frea and Chase had come back from their Training Trip, and they had both settled back in rather well.

Frea blinked the sleep from her silver eyes as she pushed herself out of bed, rubbing the back of her neck and brushing her strawberry blonde silver-tipped hair from her face.

She hated getting up this early, but she wanted to hear who was chosen for the S-Class Exams, and to be on time for the announcement, she needed to get to the Guild earlier than she usually would.

But she didn't want to hear the announcement in the hopes she would be chosen, she didn't care, she didn't want to, she had gotten over the excitement of the Exams a long time ago.

When she had been younger, sure she had been excited about the Exams. Who wouldn't be at that age? But after she had destroyed half of Magnolia and harmed her Guild members... All because she wasn't strong enough to keep Shadow from taking over.

Frea let out a long sigh as she opened her drawers, looking for what she wanted to wear today.

After that... She never wanted to be part of the Exams. Master Makarov had asked her many times, but she always told him no. How could he think that someone who had hurt the Guild deserved to even be given the chance to become an S-Class?

Even today, she knew for certain she would not be participating this year, that had already been decided.

Master had called her into his office the day before, and asked if she would be willing to participate in the Exams this year.

Her answer was no, as it always was.

She appreciated that he was still asking her, instead of forcing her to do so, which she had expected him to do so by now after all this time.

She let out another sigh and pulled on her clothes; simple dark skinny jeans, a grey tank top, with a black shirt with long sleeves that hung off her shoulders, clearly showing her Fairy Tail mark. Frea walked into the bathroom and brushed out her hair, before pulling it up into a loose ponytail with her bangs and two strips of hair left out to border her face, and tying it up with a black ribbon.

She headed back into her room and laced up her combat boots, before making sure her door was locked, and jumping lightly out of her window. Her feet hit the stiff and slightly frosted grass at the bottom with a soft crunch and her breath billowed out in front of her. She frowned slightly, never being a big fan of cold weather.

She found herself in the stuffed Guild Hall in little time, everyone talking excitedly around her as they cast anxiuos glances at the stage, where a red curtain was dropped down.

Most conversation was speculation on who would be chosen, she could here her name pop up a few times, and yet she didn't care.

No Exams for me, not now, and not anytime soon...

She watched in silence as the curtain to the stage rose up slowly, and the crowd cheered when Master, Mira, Erza and Gildarts could be seen standing atop the stage.

"Our Guilds S-Class Exams will be held in a weeks time!" Makarov declared. "I have been watching all of you, your dedication, your heart."

The crowds suddenly became so loud, Master was forced to pause and wait for the noise to quite down. Frea smiled slightly at the enthusiasm, glad that some people were still thrilled with the Exams, even if she herself wasn't.

"There will be eight people chosen to participate in this years S-Class Exams!" Master exclaimed. Everyone yelled out around her and she looked away from the stage to sweep her gaze over everyone, eight out of all of them...

"The Exams will be held on Tenrou Island, our Guild's Holy Land." He explained and Frea looked back at the stage.

Tenrou...? What an odd place to hold the Exams...

In all her time in the Guild, none of the Exams had been held on Tenrou. Though she had heard of the Guild's Holy Land, she couldn't say she was very familiar with it. She herself had only been there once, and that had been on a short trip with Master and a few other people when she had been much younger.

"The eight participating this year will be," Master started and the Guild grew quiet. "Natsu Dragneel!"

Frea caught sight of Natsu looking rather pleased near the front of the crowd. She smiled, nodding slightly. There was no surprise there...

"Gray Fullbuster!"

Gray smirked as his name was called and Frea smiled, while it didn't surprise her that he was chosen as well, having those two get picked in the same year? Master was asking for trouble...

"Juvia Lockser!"

Juvia froze when her name was called and she looked rather shocked she had been chosen. Frea blinked,

"Cana Alberona!"

Frea glanced sideways to see Cana looking relatively unhappy, despite the chorus of approval that had risen up when her name was called.

"Mest Gryder!"

Frea only caught sight of this Mage's back.

"Freed Justine!"

She immediately picked the green-haired man out of the crowd, and she picked up on him saying, 'follow in Laxus' footsteps' or something of that nature.

"Elfman Strauss!"

No surprise there, the large man seemed to have been working hard for it all year.

"Levy Mcgarden!"

That was a little surprising, she would never have expected Levy to be chosen.

"Some of you are new to this, you are required to choose a partner within the week that you have until the Exam." Makarov continued. "The only rules on your partner, they must be part of Fairy Tail, and you cannot ask any S-Class Wizard to be your partner."

Frea glanced around the hall at all who had been chosen, they needed to find partners... She was a little curious to see who would be chosen.

"You have a weeks time to prepare for the Exams, we will be meeting at Hargeon Port before going to Tenrou Island."

"I will be there to help slow you down during the Exam." Erza stepped forward and told the crowd, gaze passing over all of the participants.

"So will I." Mira smiled.

"You mean they'll have to get past Erza and Mira?" Frea glanced over when she heard Lucy ask the question.

"The Exams just got way harder!"

"No complaining." Gildarts called out and smirked.

"Will you be in the Exams too, Gildarts?!" Natsu asked excitedly.

"Don't sound so happy about it!" Elfman yelled at Natsu. Frea let out a heavy sigh, so Mira, Erza and Gildarts will be there to slow them down..? She smirked,

"Well then, good luck guys, you'll need it." She chuckled under her breath.

Master and the rest of the S-Class Mages stepped off the stage and everyone separated into groups to talk. Frea walked over to a table with Lisanna, Juvia, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Elfman, taking a seat at the end of the table.

"Still didn't get picked this year, eh?" Gray said as he glanced over at Frea, and she crossed he arms over her chest.

"That doesn't bother me." She replied evenly, shrugging slightly. "Never been interested in them." She replied truthfully, Gray gave her an disbelieving look.

"Never?" He echoed and she shook her head. "You're crazy, the Exams are sure to be cool." Frea shrugged again.

"Funny, I would thought you'd be one of the top picks, Teach." Chase suddenly sat down beside her, glancing her way curiously. She shrugged again, smiling slightly.

"Even so, I'm not participating either way." She told him lowly, and he narrowed his eyes.

"And why is that?" He asked, immediately able to tell there was something she wasn't speaking out loud.

"Maybe later." Frea replied evenly, her attention turning to the others around them. Chase held his gaze on his Mentor (old Mentor now that Training was over he supposed...) for a few moments as she looked away from him- easily able to feel the sudden tenseness spark from her, and wondered why.

Frea didn't look his way again, and he let out a small sigh, deciding it best not to press it for now.

"Who are you guys going to choose as your partners?" Lucy asked.

"Happy's going to be my partner." Natsu grinned.

"Aye!"

"No fair! If the Exam is a race you'll win!" Elfman exclaimed.

"Yeah, but if it's a fight they're pretty much at a loss..." Lucy told him quietly.

"You'll see! I'm gonna make Natsu S-Class!" Happy exclaimed, and with that- the pair sprinted from the hall, yelling something about training.

"Juvia wants to quit the Exams..." Juvia mumbled.

"Why?" Gray asked and Frea smiled a little when she heard Juvia's quiet response of,

"Juvia wants to be partners with you..."

Gray exchanged a glance with Lucy because they couldn't hear it.

"She said she wanted to be partners with you." Frea explained and Gray smiled.

"Oh come on Juvia, it'll be great. Don't hold back on me, lets have a passionate battle like the old days!" Gray told her and Juvia went off into her own dreamland, especially at the word 'passionate' from what Frea could guess.

"I'll be Juvia's partner." Lisanna piped up suddenly.

"B-but Lissanna..." Elfman stammered, looking shocked.

"I worked great with Edolas Juvia, plus this one seems cute." Lisanna explained. "Besides, you've been getting a passionate stare-down this entire time."

Frea glanced behind her to see Evergreen staring at Elfman with a look somewhere between annoyance and neutrality. Elfman seemed a little stressed once he realized Evergeen had been watching him. Frea smirked though, finding it somewhat amusing.

"She must be pissed that Freed chose Bickslow." Lisanna murmured, Frea silently agreed.

"Whose your partner Gray?" Lucy asked.

Gray smirked, "Somebody I made a promise with awhile ago."

Frea glanced away when she felt a familiar Energy Signature appear in the Guild. Coming toward them, was a young man in a suit, with orang hair and tinted glasses. She smiled as he drew near.

"Hey Loke!" She greeted him with a small wave of her hand toward her old friend, he smiled back.

"Hey Frea," He smiled, nodding his head to everyone else who looked to him in slight surprise. "Hey Guys." he murmured before he turned to Lucy who was looking rather shocked. "I terminated our contract for the duration of the Exams, Lucy. And I came here on my own so I won't drain your Magic Power." The Spirit told his Master. Lucy blinked at the words, a little taken aback.

"We made a promise a few years back." Gray smirked. "So we're going to be partners."

"Are you considered part of Fairy Tail though?" Elfman asked and Loke smirked. Frea smirked herself, shaking her head slightly at the question.

The Lion Spirit took off his jacket and pulled his white shirt off his shoulders, revealing a green Guild Mark on his back.

"I'm a Fairy Tail Mage, and I'm going to help Gray become an S-Class with the pride of my Guild at my back." Loke told them as he pulled his shirt back up over his shoulders and buttoned it.

Like had been a member long before he had returned to the Spirit World, he bore the Guild Mark, and did it proudly as she well knew. He was loyal to the Guild nearly as much as he was loyal to his KeyHolders, Frea liked that part of him quite a bit in reality. It was one of the reasons they had become such fast friends.

Frea smiled slightly at the thought, her thoughts floating back to those talking around her, resting her chin in her hand and closing her eyes. "Well, I wish all of you good luck, I have a feeling this years Exams are gonna be something special." She smirked, "Just don't get too beat up, ok?" She chuckled lightly,

Everyone smiled back, "You got it."

 **.:+:.**

"So teach, you plan to tell me why you wouldn't participate?" Chase asked, glancing toward his Old Mentor with one eye open, his chin resting in his hand.

The Guild seemed to be fairly empty that morning, it being the day the members who had been chosen for the Exams had left with Master and the S-Class Mages to hold the Exams. He'd hardly spent any time in the Guild itself, but that mattered little- he warmed up to everyone so quickly he felt he had known them for years. But even so, the emptiness of the Guild itself that morning... It was somewhat eery.

No Natsu picking fights with Gray, Gajeel or Elfman. No Erza breaking them up, or joining in herself. No Master yelling about the Guild being destroyed... Everyone here, they milled about quietly, enjoying ale and beer, Kinana moving about the barren tables slowly as she set out what food and drink was ordered. Reedus sat in the corner, easel set before him and working on his next masterpiece, Romeo looking bored as he listened to his father and Wakaba argue.

It just seemed so quiet and empty with so many people gone. Chase shook his head a little at the thoughts,

Frea looked his way slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly, for a minute he seemed like she was going to refuse- before sighing heavily and shaking her head at him. She had the feeling he would keep poking and prodding at the subject if she didn't explain it, and she'd rather just get it over with.

"Why do you wanna know?" She mumbled half-heartedley.

"Seems to me like you'd be one of the top picks for S-Class." Chase murmured, "I'm surprised you haven't been part of the Exams before."

"Who told you that?" Frea asked,

"Gray." The younger Energy Mage replied quietly. "According to him, you've never once been picked in all the years you've been part of the Guild."

Frea glanced away from him, eyes narrowing more. For a long while, silence settled over them. Chase blinked, not sure why Frea didn't seem entirely willing to talk on the subject...

"That's not entirely true..." She murmured, he tilted his head slightly. "To say I haven't been chosen isn't correct, I have." Her eyes fell closed. "Master has chosen me every year since around the time I joined the Guild. I've just never agreed to actually participate in the Exams."

Chase blinked a few times, confused as to why she wouldn't ever have chosen to do the Exams if she had been picked. That seemed odd, considering anyone else would love to be in the Exams from the looks of it- the sheer amount of excitement he had felt sparking off all the other members was immense. And beside that- it seemed an honor to be chosen as well, and in all honesty- it was the sort of honor he imagined Frea worthy of. She was one of the strongest Mages in the Guild after all, he knew that first hand... And clearly Master did too, if he had asked her to join every year before now.

"I don't deserve that, I can't be trusted with the idea of possibly becoming S-Class." Frea suddenly growled the words lowly, and he sweatdropped slightly. "Someone who has harmed their Guild-Mates can't be trusted with that much authority in the Guild."

Chase just simply looked to her for a few moments, silent as he mulled over what she said in his head. Frea had of course explained what had happened when she was younger, when there had been a day that Shadow had taken hold of her mind and went on a rampage within Magnolia. The time the Dark Demon had injured countless members of the Guild, and destroyed everything in sight.

Frea wouldn't forgive herself of such a thing, he knew she wouldn't though he wished she would. She had more than made up for that one mistake at this point... And besides, it hadn't technically been her fault in the first place. Shadow was the one who hurt the Guild, not Frea herself.

Either way though, he knew Frea was stubborn. And he knew well no amount of arguing was going to change her mind on the matter... Although;

"No one still holds that against you, Teach." He murmured lowly. He could feel her stiffen beside him, "You're one of the strongest in the Guild. Everyone trusts you, you can be trusted with being S-Class... No matter what you say otherwise." He sighed a little. "Doesn't it mean anything when Master asks you to participate every year? He must think you deserve it, hell, I think you deserve it." He smiled, seeing the scowl on her face.

"Learn to forgive yourself." He finished simply. Frea only crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, looking away in an act of stubbornness.

"Oh shut up." She muttered crossly, he chuckled as he shook his head at her.

 _Learning to forgive yourself Teach... Its something you taught me, I wish you found a way to learn it for yourself._

 **.:+:.**

"Something... I think something is wrong." Frea mumbled lowly, looking toward the window cautiously. It was growing dark outside, too dark. The Exams should have ended by now, and everyone should be back.

Chase nodded silently. "I have that feeling too." He murmured lowly. The two of them were sitting at a table alone, tense and stiff.

They had been like this since the afternoon. For whatever reason, they had felt something in the Energy around them shift, and a sense of foreboding fell upon them. Something dark and deep, something that dropped a cold weight into the bottoms of their stomachs, and it only grew heavier. Something was definitely off, and they were growing even more worried seeing as now no one from the Tenrou Team had returned.

Frea sweatdropped heavily, silver eyes narrowed to slits as she watched the sky outside grow all the more dark- the air ringed with incoming scent of rain. Chills raced up and down her spine continually, her hands gripped her arms as she held them crossed before her, jaw clenched slightly. What was this? This heavy feel the air seemed to hold? It was like everything felt heavy, it was all pressing down on her shoulders, growing heavier and heavier... Foreboding. True and utter foreboding, the sense that something was terribly amiss...

... Something, it kind of feels like something... Is missing.

"Maybe we should send a group out to try and contact with the Master?" Laki mumbled, glancing toward the door as everyone else was. The Guild itself was wrapped in worry and tenseness, everyone seemed able to sense something was wrong.

"Maybe they're just late." Max mumbled, arms crossed over his chest but seeming a little unconvinced. "It does look like its gonna rain, maybe there's a storm keeping them from crossing the ocean right now.."

 _That's not it..._

Frea pressed her folded hands to her chin, eyes closing and sweatdropping heavily.

 _Why do I feel like this? Like something had disappeared... Something familiar just... Faded away into nothing._

Her hands tightened slightly, shoulders growing rigid. The worried murmurings of the Guild around her faded into nothing, the sound of rain beginning to patter down drowned her senses- willing her mind to understand what she was feeling. She didn't know what this was, she wasn't familiar with this itching feeling in the back of her mind of something suddenly missing... And that sense of foreboding grew all the more.

Thunder boomed outside with a sudden flash of lightning dazzling across the sky, Frea's eyes opened, sweatdropping all the more as her ears seemed to catch not to the sound of the thunder... But something she had never hoped to hear again.

She stared, eyes wide and has dropped slightly. It was distant, muffled, and low... Had she imagined that? Was it simply a trick of the thunder rolling outside?

 _... I swear... That was the roar... Of a Dragon..._

Chase glanced sideways toward Frea, eyebrow quirked at the suddenly shocked look she held on her face- her expression one like she had caught on to something he hadn't. Golden flashes of light sparked through the windows, the light etching across the dark sky and illuminating their features in deep contrasts a moment.

Everyone in the hall whipped about when the doors to the Guild swung open suddenly, hearts fluttering in sudden relief- thinking the Tenrou Team was back.

They stopped, eyes wide and some of them narrowed in suspicion to see a man standing in the doorway, glasses bouncing with the light from inside, hair damp and Council clothes soaked from the rain outside. Everyone bristled slightly,

"What do you want?" Macao growled, getting to his feet and approaching the sudden arrival. Frea stiffened, eyes narrowing to silver slits when she felt the sudden waves of tense and fear coming from the man- to whom she recognized as a Magic Council Knight by the name of Lahar. She blinked in slight confusion, before she stiffened at the wave of regret that crashed into her from the man.

 _Regret...?_

Beside her Chase had stiffened slightly, easily able to feel the emotions she could. They exchanged small glances, both of the confused and all the more concerned.

"Please, before things get out of hand- I'm here with serious... And rather painful news." Lahar mumbled, he folded his hand together in front of him, eyes falling closed as Fairy Tail went into a deathly silence, the air just seemed to grow heavier.

"Its about Tenrou Island."

Everyone sweatdropped, many people got to their feet.

"What about it?"

"Are you familiar with the legend of the Black Dragon of the Apacalypse?"

"Huh..?"

"You mean that old story about the King of Dragons?" Laki murmured,

"What's that got to do with Tenrou?" Macao grumbled,

"Yeah, what do you know about out comrades?!" Warren growled, Chase and Frea sat in silence, eyes narrowed as tensions started sparking all the more.

"...Acnologia..." Frea mumbled, too low for anyone to hear.

 _... Didn't Master mention... Gildarts went to try and destroy...?_

"That Dragon appeared over Tenrou, and for reasons unknown... It destroyed the entire Island. Tenrou no longer exists." Lahar went on slowly, softly. The whole Guild seemed to grow deathly quiet, everyone's hearts stopping as an ocean of icy cold fell over their heads.

"In doing so.. I'm afraid the members of your Guild on the island have been killed."

The world seemed to spiral out from under her feet, eyes wide as a cold sheet seemed to fall over her head. Everything just fell, everything fell away from her and she felt she could hardly breathe anymore.

It was the deepest, most dark pit of utter despair that suddenly dropped onto her being, suffocating her slowly under its cold weight. Nothing, nothing had ever hit her this hard... It felt like her world was crashing down over her head.

Her emotions suddenly crashed down over her, backed by the sudden unbridled wave of terror and such deep heart ache and pain from the Guild around her, she felt her breath suddenly snatched away and could scarcely move, it was almost like someone had plunged their fists through her chest and taken her heart with them.

In a single instant, her world was ripped out from under her.

 _N-no... That... They... T-they can't..._


	2. Chapter 2- Things Change

**Chapter** **2**  
 **Things Change**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

"Hey, Teach."

The wind blew over the grassy hill lazily, the sunlight shining against the cool green blades as they shifted and moved in the wind- the distant shimmering expanse of the sea resting on the horizon, dotted just before it the buildings and homes of a distant sea-side town. The wind blew into her face, bringing the scent of the sea to her nose and the sound of seagulls faintly on the wind, her silver gaze resting on the distant figures as she stood in absolute silence, her face hidden by the hood of her cloak.

"Hmm?" She hummed back quietly, not bothering to look back toward the familiar voice- accompanied closely with three Energy Signatures she knew so very well.

"You're being awfully quiet today." Chase replied softly, he tucked his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans, his form fitting dark shirt hardly ruffled by the wind, midlength black hair swept back by it. His blue gaze rest on her figure as she remained with her back to him, "What's on your mind?"

"... Its like nothing's changed, in the seven years." Frea replied softly, wistfully almost. "The ocean, the city... Its all the same, just like it was."

Chase blinked, letting out a small sigh as he glanced away, sweatdropping slightly.

 _If only that were really true..._ He chuckled slightly, a small smirk creasing his lips as he shook his head.

"You know, you say things like that a lot more than you ever used to. More philosophical." He replied lightly, chuckling a little and earning a small humm from her in reply. "The job's done, so its time to head back... You coming, Teach?"

Frea's head tilted down, her eyes shutting softly as she let out a small breath.

The ocean, the city... Those were the same. Everything... It was like it had just stopped, like she was stuck. She'd felt that way for seven years, like she was frozen in time with no way out.

But in reality, everything was different now... She just couldn't feel it. She was numb,

"... You three head back to the Guild, I have some other things to take care of." She replied, shifting slightly- the small silver pendent around her neck glinting in the sunlight as she started forward down the hill. Chase blinked at the response, but shook his head without questioning it- he didn't need to, that's just how things were.

"... It was good seeing you again though, Kid. I'll be back at the Guild before too long... Hopefully." She added in softly, he nodded a little.

"You got it, Teach." He murmured, slowly turning toward the two awaiting figures behind him, a pair of emerald and deep purple gazes set on him intently. He smiled warmly, nodding his head to them as he started forward, Frea moving down the hill and away from them steadily- not even bothering to cast a glance back.

"Well, you heard her." He smiled, "Back to the Guild it is."

 _Its been seven years... Since Master, Natsu... Erza, Mira... Gray, Juvia... Lucy, Elfmam... Bixlow, Freed, Evergreen... Lisanna... Gildarts... Wendy... Levy, Gajeel... Happy, Lily, Carla... Cana... Since all of you disappeared, lost in the dark breath of the Apocalyptic Dragon. Seven years since Fairy Tail was broken... And seven years since even Laxus fell from the face of the planet._

 _Its been seven years of standing in a glass jar, watching the world go by around me, changing around me, changing with it... But always trapped._

 _Seven years... And nothing's changed. I say that, and yet I know its not even remotely true. I just feel that way... But its a lie._

 _I don't even recognize any of it, its all changed. Everything... Different._

Frea took in a long, deep breath, her eyes falling closed a moment as she continued walking. She had been walking in silence for far longer than she realized, having already reached the bottom of the incline and the feel of their Energy Signatures behind her were far off... It was a blur most of the time, when she was alone. Time didn't move the way it used to.

"New business, Energy Dragon?"

Frea slowed to a pause, her eyes opening to glance sideways toward the calm, small smile set upon her by Jynx- the ghost girl's arms hooked behind her back as she stood not three feet to her right. Frea blinked, not at all perturbed by the sudden appearance of the girl's Energy Signature, and instead he barely noticed it had become so common.

"Jynx," she murmured, turning slightly toward the Ghost, a small smile creasing her lips, silver eyes glinting slightly. "Yeah, just got told about the new Job this morning." Frea blinked, head tilting slightly as she rest her gaze on the ghost steadily. "Though, you don't pop up like this unless you need something- what is it?"

Jynx smiled softly and lift a hand, snapping her fingers as purple Magic wrapped about her hand, and suddenly dropped seven large Lacrima Crystals about the size of a book each from the air, floating centimeters from her palm. Frea's eyes glittered at the objects, though she didn't seem inherently surprised.

"I require seven Lacrima Crystals filled this time around." Jynx told her easily,

"That's a lot more than usual," Frea murmured, Jynx nodded.

"Indeed, but I would not ask unless I truly required that much." The ghost replied easily, Frea blinked once more, but sighed and relented.

Her hand stretched forward as her fingers grazed Jynx's purple Magic, and her own silver rose up to encase the Lacrima Crystals.

"... That's going to be a good 55% of the Magic Energy I have at the surface, if not more." Frea murmured, her eyes falling closed as she let her arm remained stretched out. Soft silver bands of Magic began to spiral around her person, the light glinting off the two silver rings on her pointer finger and thumb.

"Its required for a large scale project." Jynx murmured,

"You've never told me what this project is, you know." Frea murmured, Jynx nodded.

"In time, Energy Dragon, I'll let you know." Frea seemed to sigh but didn't say anything in return. A large Magic Circle spread across the ground under her feet, a thin wall of her Magic rising up on the edges of the Circle and streams of bright silver arcing up from Frea's arm, and beginning to circle the Lacrima still floating about her outstretched hand.

There came a wall of sudden and immense pressure as her Magic rose up, enough that the air felt considerably heavier and the grass around her was blown back in the sudden wash of wind.

The Lacrima shone a brilliant light blue color as Frea's Magic began to drain into them one by one in a steady stream, until her Magic slowed and the the Magic Circle retracted entirely. Frea took in a deep breath, sweatdropping slightly as her arm fell and the five Lacrima slowly floated back over toward Jynx, who smiled and dipped her head to the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"Thank you."

"... Yeah, and keep your secrets. As long as you aren't plotting to take over the world with all those Magic filled Lacrima I've been providing you, I'm not gonna dig too deep." Frea replied, rubbing the back of her neck with a hand as the other rest on her hip, taking in a few more breaths slowly.

Jynx chuckled under her breath a little, an amused smile spreading over her face. "I assure you, the Power is being used for a good cause." Frea's eyes opened to glance Jynx's way silently,

"... I know, I trust you." Frea said softly, earning a small nod from Jynx, the girl's red eyes softening slightly.

"You seem tired, Energy Dragon." Jynx pointed out, her voice dropping to a tone of slight concern and caring. Frea glanced away, crossing her arms over her chest, her shoulders and body covered by the cloak about her person.

"... I am," Frea replied softly. "But it's nothing to worry about, I'm fine. Being a little tired isn't gonna affect me in any way." Her silver eyes rest in the distant ocean, her expression neutral but a sea of immeasurable emotion dancing in her eyes.

"... I still have work to do, can't quit now because I'm sleepy. We need these jobs done, and I'm the one whose gotta do them."

Silence fell over them a moment, Frea's attention fixed to the sea while Jynx looked to the Energy Dragon Slayer in silence. She could see the exhaustion pulling at Frea, though it was hidden well- but even more than that, she could tell something was on her mind- there always was something. As to be expected... Seeing as how things were.

Frea blinked, her silver gaze sweeping back to settle on Jynx, her lips twitching in an almost entirely imperceptible smile.

"I'll sleep when I'm done. Until then, don't worry about it-I'll be fine."

Jynx nodded, smiling a little herself.

"I know you will be."


	3. Chapter 3- Long Stories Left Untold

**Chapter** **3**  
 **Long Stories Left Untold**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

"I apologize that I'm late.." Frea murmured softly, her voice low and slightly weary as she drew to a halt, her boots clicking softly on the polished marble floor.

Her hands moved up to pull her hood from obscuring her features, her silver gaze resting on the man in front of her silently, expression neutral as he looked her over in similar silence, if not slight tenseness.

The grand halls and corridors were silent apart from the occasional shuffle of feet and quite murmurs passed between the few that moved through them. Sunlight shone in through the openness, the pillars spaced apart by large intervals and the floor glinting in its light.

"I was held up with another Job we finished only this morning, Chairman." Frea grumbled lowly, her tone slightly edgy as the old man gazed at her steadily. It was clear they were tense with one another, and why not? In her earlier years the Council had been an enemy to her, and as still held them in disdain even now.

Not that she had much choice on the matter of being around them, not any more any way... She was more often in the HQ of the Magic Council than she was at the Guild on most occasions- and for good reason.

Frea took in a small breath, calming herself slightly as she shook her head, her silver eyes glinting as she crossed her arms about her chest.

"... Hmm, you called?" Frea murmured softly, "I assume it's important, otherwise you wouldn't have requested me so quickly." She blinked, noticing the sudden flux of seriousness pricking from the old man. She blinked, eyebrow raised and eyes glittering in question- he sighed and stepped past her.

"Walk with me."

Frea paused, stepping sideways as he moved past her, sweatdropping slightly as she blinked. Slowly, ever so slowly, she started after the man, silver eyes glinting.

"You're being unusually grim, old man..." Frea mumbled lowly,

"... Hmm, well- I thought it best I choose how I present this mission to you as carefully as I can." He replied. Frea blinked in question. "Considering how attached you are to the subject." Her eyes narrowed at him, but he didn't spare a glance her way, not for an instant.

"... I have thought of countless ways to ask you to handle this situation, and countless times I have failed to find a way to request what it is I want of you... Simply because I know very well how you will react." Frea stiffened slightly, eyes narrowed to slits as she followed him through the building, through archways that opened to the sky, looking out over the Council's main base of operations, the sun starting to sink on the horizon. Those few passerby in the halls shot the both of them looks, before shuffling away quickly.

"... So I think it best I simply take the most direct approach and ask without meandering about the subject in unneeded ways." Frea stiffened, biting the inside of her cheek a bit, a small part of her growing impatient.

"... The Council has recently located the base of operations of operations of those few remaining in Death Bolt."

Frea stopped walking, the old man took a few steps forward before pausing himself, his hands crossed behind his back and eyes falling closed.

"... We know that their numbers and their strength are too much to be left to a battalion of Knights, and with the crimes they have headed over the past year having been increasing in severity, we need them eradicated as quickly as possible." He went on, not turning back toward he silent Dragon Slayer behind him- he knew she was listening.

"With all the work you've been involved in removing and tearing down the pillars that hold up the Triad, the Council thinks it best to leave the destruction of Death Bolt to you. You have the skill and the knowledge required to complete this task, as you have thus far removed both Black Chimera and Pheonix Tear, tearing apart two of the three legs of the Triad. Now we are ordering you to step up to the charge, and finish the last of the Dark Guild Triad once and for all." He paused, his eyes glinting in the light of the sunset.

"... Though of course we know you would take on this challenge, regardless of our ordering you to."

There was a long while of silence that fell over the two of them, the chairman never looked back toward the Energy Dragon Slayer, but he could feel her anger rising- just as he felt her Magical Pressure rise in accordance with her emotion. His head flicked a little, hearing the unmistakable sound of the marble underfoot cracking under Frea's own feet, unable to withstand the sheer pressure radiating from her and her Magic in that instant, though it was clear she was doing her best not to get out of hand.

He felt a chill run up his spine at the thought of her emotions and Magic running wild without check so suddenly, he was sure the floor wouldn't exist if she truly let go of herself. And he doubted this section of Era would still be standing if she lost all semblance of control, assuredly he would not be standing there either. He could feel her Magic regardless of her anger, even Non-Mages could feel the heaviness on the air that her Magic made, radiating around her without end, even when she wasn't using her Magic outwardly. Though he knew well he had never felt the sheer extent of it... And he hoped he never would. But this, it was like even her own willpower couldn't keep her Magic down.

 _Hmm... How many does she have now I wonder...? I've lost track._

"Where?" Her voice was low, and steely. Org sweatdropped slightly, he imagined it took everything she had to keep her tone as level as it was, and of course she had every right to be angry.

"The Treygr Canyons." He replied levelly. "... We have reports of hundreds of Mages in the Building. As well as notable reports of the Guild Leader and his lieutenants."

He stopped himself, the pressure of her Magic against his back was fading, he could hear her footsteps leading away as she left, quickly and without a word and without care to what warning he had intended to give her... Though maybe it wasn't needed.

She didn't stop, all her mind and thoughts were on one thing. She had somewhere to be, someone to see before she started war.

Org sighed slightly, his eyes falling closed.

He would have warned her, given her what information he had and it wouldn't matter. He would have told her all the political strings and rules that came with the assignment, and he knew she didn't care. In that moment she likely wouldn't have even cared about the pay, regardless of how much money had grown to mean in the last seven years.

 _That woman... It seems foolish now the Council ever thought her a Demon who would turn the world to ash._

He swallowed.

 _Not a Demon, no... But if she wished it, the world would burn and there would be little to be done to stop her._

 **.:+:.**

"Hey, Chess..."

Frea sighed, settling down on her heels in the soft grass, her hair moving in the wind softly as it spanned out over the grassy glen. She folded her hands in her lap, sunlight dancing off the pendent around her neck, eyes soft and expression gentle as her attention focused to the smooth marble headstone in front of her.

What anger and fire burned in her belly seemed to melt away as she stepped here... This peaceful place.

"Its been a long while, huh?" She murmured, eyes glinting. "I'm sorry for not coming any sooner, things have been hectic lately... I've been _seriously_ busy." She smiled slightly, "You always told me I worked too hard, and I guess you were probably right about that..." Her eyes fell closed, her smile fading away as her voice did.

"... I'm going to finish it, soon. This last job, its the last leg of the Flash Beast Triad. The last Guild is going to be shattered, it's people shut behind bars by the end of the week, they'll all be done in their days of murder and ruin... They'll have all paid for what they've done, I'll be sure of it."

Frea glanced back up, a sudden serious light coming into her gaze as she faced the headstone. There was something dark in those silver eyes of hers, something dangerous for a split second.

"I'm not going to let them do this ever again, not to anyone." Her voice would have stopped the hearts of men in that instant, low and dangerous, _murderous_.

She caught herself, her eyes softening as she shook her head and let out a breath- brushing away that side of herself, and silently scolding herself too. She couldn't act like that, not here, not ever... This place was too sacred for that.

After a moment of silence, of simply sitting in stillness, she felt like the world blurred by again... It was that same blur, everything moved so slowly around her still, and yet she knew what felt like moments had turned to minutes, and then an hour, and she never moved. So easily she lost track of time... More and more in the years.

She let her eyes close, and let out a small sigh- her lips twitching in a rueful smile.

"... Your little brat of a brother's doing fine, in case you were worried. He's been going on job's with us more and more often, and his training is nearly done. He's a full fledged Mage now, just as good as you, if not better in time." She chuckled softly, "He can be one hell of a pain in the ass sometimes... But you know that better than anyone. Even still... I'm glad he stuck around, I couldn't imagine not having him by my side, despite his snarky attitude sometimes." Frea's hands clenched in her lap tightly, shoulders hunched slightly as her head fell,

"... He misses you so much... He's in so much pain all the time, just thinking about you, remembering... _Missing_ you... Some days it's really bad, I can't help but flinch at his emotion... And I can't say I'm not the same..." She cut herself off, taking in a small, sharp breath as if to calm herself, or maybe hold herself back again.

Sunlight glinted off the few drops of liquid that suddenly fell into her lap, splashing gently off her folded hands.

"... I'm trying, Chess. I promised I'd keep him safe, and I will... I want him happy, and I'm going to do everything I can to make him that way... I promise. Whatever it takes... I won't lose him too."

 **.:+:.**

 **Alright guys! That'll be the last update for a week or so! Hopefully this is enough to catch your interest a bit more~**

 **3**


	4. Chapter 4- Glass Half-Empty

**Chapter 4**  
 **Glass Half-Empty**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

"Hmm?"

The young woman with fiery red hair pulled up, her green eyes casting back toward the figure of Chase as she noticed he fell behind, his blue eyes casting up toward the sky overhead, looking over the forest and the line of trees sloping down away below them. Four long days of movement, dodging from town to won in their march back to the Guild- and now they were so close, but he stopped.

Chase drew to a halt, looking back the way they had come and the figure of Magnolia below them, over the pale blue expanse of the sky stretching over the lands surrounding the town- hair ruffled back by a sudden strong gust of cool wind sweeping over everything, the tie he pulled it into shaking softly in the breeze.

He blinked, his hands settled in his pockets and silent, attention focused on the distant horizon- senses on high at the sudden flux of energy that tingled at the base of his mind. Something foreign, something he hadn't quite felt before, it was like a wash of fresh air from a hot summer day... Almost like coming up for air after being held under the water for a long time. Refreshing, pleasant... _Calm_.

He blinked again, blue eyes glittering as he took in a breath. His skin pulled slightly under the small, faint scar running across the bridge of his nose, left there on his skin by a wicked blade and grasped by a hand long and thin... A smile pulling at twisted lips as the glow of cold, glinting eyes.

He swallowed as the unwanted memory flashed in his mind, pushing it away as he focused on what strange Energy suddenly danced upon the air, moving and twisting with the wind as if it were carried by a leaf caught in it's clutches. It was pleasant, it was warm and cool at once... And light. It left a strange, pleasurable feeling in his core... Remnants of something he hadn't felt as often as he should.

 _Seven long years... And this is the first time, he had actually felt some small burst of... Hope..?_

He blinked again, head tilting slightly. He didn't quite understand this feeling at all, it wasn't like anything he'd felt before. It wasn't something bad, inherently this sudden flux of Energy, of emotion that seemed to spark off the wind itself... It felt _blissful_. He found himself taking a deep breath in, as if he wanted to drink it.

"Chase," the girl with the red hair murmured, eyebrow quirked. When he didn't reply she sighed, looking slightly bemused. "Energy Mages... Always looking off into the distance like they're on a different planet or something..." She shook her head, glancing sideways toward another young woman, her silver hair glinting in the sunlight as she glanced toward Chase, her purple gaze fixed and steady.

"You didn't feel that?" The silver haired woman murmured, the other blinked.

"What?" She mumbled, sweatdropping slightly as she glanced away, arms crossed over her chest. The one with the purple eyes blinked, giving the other a pointed look- which was promptly scowled upon.

"... Tch... You mean that sudden burst of warmth on the wind?" The red-head mumbled, she sighed, looking away at the sun overhead. "Yeah... It kinda feels like the sun started shining more brightly than it has in a long time."

"... Something happened." The girl with the purple eyes murmured, "Something changed... That's probably what he's picked up on." She gestured toward the motionless figure of Chase, his back to the both of them. The red-head blinked, sweatdropping slightly.

"You're too much like him and Frea, you know that?" She sighed, the silver-haired woman chuckled, smiling lightly.

"Well, they are the the strongest Mages in the Guild." She smirked at the red-head, flicking her lightly on the arm in a jesting manner. "We could probably stand to take a lesson or two from them."

"Lesson in what? Cloud-watching and long spouts of silent, motionless contemplation?" The redhead shot back easily, her lips pulling into a smirk. "Or maybe how to properly block everyone else out and nap with our eyes open- and call it 'concentration'." She smiled, her hands raising as she gestured in the air before her animatedly, the purple-eyed woman shook her head slightly, though she looked amused.

"You forgot the most important lesson of all." She quipped back lightly, "How to guess everyone's thoughts to the point it's creepy, because everyone knows neither Chase nor Frea are Telepathic." The redhead laughed lightly, nodding.

"Oh yeah, they have creepy down to an _art_."

"You know I can hear you both, right?"

They turned at Chase's lighthearted chuckle, seeing he had turned back their direction, his arms about his chest and smiling- even despite the obvious teasing. They both blinked, the silver-haired girl smiling slightly as the red-head smirked.

"Oh really? I'm sorry, your head was so in the clouds we thought you surely couldn't." The red-head laughed. Chase chuckled, shaking his head.

"Alright, fine- I was distracted I'll give you that." He replied, starting forward again toward them. They waited enough to let him pass them by, as he continued walking into the trees, continuing down the path they had set upon. The two woman glanced at each other as he passed, blinking- before beginning to walk after him again.

"Well?" The red-head pressed.

"What was it? What'd you feel?" The silver haired woman added in.

"No clue." Chase replied with a small shrug.

"How can you not know?"

"I don't know everything, Solana, not even what's going through your head all the time- though it isn't hard to guess." Chase replied lowly, smirking back at her as she shrugged, smiling herself. "I'm an Energy Mage and that makes me an expert on most things Energy related, but that doesn't mean I know all the answers." The red-head huffed slightly, looking away from him at what was less than an answer, though she wasn't angry with it.

"You don't think something's gone wrong on Frea's end, do you?" The silver haired woman murmured, purple eyes glinting.

"Don't worry so much about Teach, Aisha- though I know you do." Chase chuckled, "Teach can handle herself, besides... I don't think this feeling, this Energy- I don't think it's bad. It isn't negative, or malignant." Aisha blinked, sweatdropping slightly as she let out a small breath.

"... I suppose it'd be best to trust you." She mumbled, smiling at him slightly. "Creepy or not, you do have a good sense about things." He laughed under his breath, shaking his head at her.

"I'm not creepy..." He mumbled, too low for either of them to hear- he didn't take their teasing to heart of course, he knew they only meant it in good fun.

"... Well, I guess Frea is the Guild's top Mage." Solana sighed, "Count on anyone to come back no matter what, it'd be her." She hooked her hands behind her head, her red hair pulled into two high pigtails and green gaze casting upward at the sky. Beside her Aisha's hair shifted in the wind slightly, braided back with a blue ribbon intertwined with the strands of silver that shone in the sunlight.

"... Wonder what Job she left on?"

 **.:+:.**

There was shouting and the echo of explosions bouncing from the stone and through the ravines, sound of struggle and destruction that carried well past its source... strangled screams and shouts of fury that lasted for hours, until near silence fell again heavy and foreboding- broken only by one, clear, terrified voice.

"... H-how...?!"

Smoke plumed from the building and through it's shattered roof, carried away by a wind blowing through the surrounding canyon land. The building lay in shambles, walls crumbled and roof collapsed, debris thrown about and doors ripped from their hinges. Bodies lay about, knocked unconscious and bruised all about, bones cracked and clothes frayed. All of them knocked senseless, some of them moaning in pain, several buried under piles of rubble.

A man trembled, his clothes ripped and blood dripping down over his eyes from a gash on his temple. His dark eyes glittered in fear and disbelief, locked to the figure of a woman standing before him, her cloak draped about her figure and looking slightly dirty, with small tears running through the fabric- but her state was nothing compared with those of the unconscious people surrounding them. She stood tall and silent, her silver gaze piercing as she gazed at him coldly from under the shadow of her hood, her hands working to tie the cloak about her neck again after pulling it over her shoulders.

"... H-how... How is this... Possible...?!" The man stammered, eyes wide and trembling from head to foot as he groveled on the floor, unable to stand back up. "... No human... Is this strong...!"

"Its over," Frea hissed lowly, her voice like ice. "The Triad is destroyed." Bits of rock and other wood shifted as she passed them by, regardless of having physically touched the rubble or not.

"... You... You're the one... Who...?!" The man stuttered, eyes widening as a surge of realization sparked off of him. "... You're that woman... Who defeated... That... That _darkness_...?!"

Frea blinked, eyes narrowed slightly at the comment, before she looked away, for a split second she looked... Haunted.

"It doesn't matter." She growled, looking back toward him as she started walking forward toward him, her hand raising as silver flowed about her fingers. "You won't need to know that, not where you're going." Her hand raised up to his forehead as he tried to stumble backward away from her, looking like a cornered animal about to be eaten by some strange, unbelievable beast.

She flicked him on the forehead, a powerful burst of her Magic pluming up and knocking him back with a shattering slam into the floor, his eyes whited out and all sense gone in an instant as the air shook with the sudden Magical Pressure.

Things fell into utter silence apart from the moaning, and the crackle of the flames still flicking at the air, accompanied by the intermittent shift of rubble.

Frea stood in utter stillness, at her feet the man was unmoving, not making a noise outside his raspy breaths. For a minute her silver gaze glittered coldly, nearly devoid of emotion, empty almost... She blinked, and what strange look appeared in her eyes was washed away.

She turned away from him, away from the destruction and what fury and pain sparked on the air like lightning... And quickly that was becoming a mess of jumbled Energy she couldn't pick apart.

Her cloak flowed behind her as she started toward the blown off doors at the front of the Building, her hand moving up lightly to trace a cross shape in the air with her Magic. There followed a small, light ring, as she tapped the middle of the drawing with a finger,

"Tell your Knights to assemble and move toward the Tregyr Canyons with as many cars as you have. There are a good three hundred Dark Wizards from the Death Bolt Guild that need to be rounded up." Frea said to the air on a clear, commanding tone. "And tell the Council that the Triad is destroyed, my Job's done."

"R-right away ma'am..."

Frea swiped her hand to the side, the mark made of her Magic giving way to nothing as she stood in the entrance, silver eyes set on the distant lands away from the canyon land, the pale glitter of green far, far away.

Slowly, with the mayhem and the mess... It felt like some part of her soul had filled. With every hit, every man downed and ever member left to lay... That emptiness that had eaten away at her started to fill, ever so slowly.

It stopped painfully short of the mark, it never reached the top... And somehow she felt more empty than before.

 _I thought... It'd feel different._

 **.:+:.**

"... This is... Insane..."

DoranBolt hissed the words under his breath, eyes casting about the hundreds of Wizards the Knights were working to round up, and about the sheer destruction the area had sustained. All of this, the damage, and the defeat of one of the three most feared Dark Guilds in Fiore- all of it the work of one, single person.

A single person, of whom, he had never been able to approach. Not after what had happened on Tenrou, not after what he had done to deceive her Guild... And how it all ended.

... A truly dangerous, and insanely powerful Mage. Someone you'd want to think twice about confronting. A feeling that hit home all the harder when looking upon what mayhem had transpired, it cut more deeply when he thought back on when she had been given the assignment in the first place... It had only been a few days. She had done in _days_ what the Council couldn't do in _years_ , and he felt himself shudder.

 _... Fairy Tail... What's left of it anyway, I'd say they're lucky to have her still with them..._ He sweatdropped heavily,

He'd hate to think what would have become of Fairy Tail of she hadn't been around...

 _That woman... She's a force of nature._

 **.:+:.**

 **I lied, have another Chapter.**

 **Slain Among Ice and Fire should be up next! 3**


	5. Chapter 5- Bad Days

**Chapter 5**  
 **Bad Days**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

The sun slowly sunk toward the horizon, the dying rays casting out over the barren, grassy glen of the land, far away from any town, or city, and nothing but the faint whistle of the wind over the grass and the distant sound of birds could be heard.

Frea let out a low breath as she moved along the grassy hills, her cloak flowing in the wind behind her and face hidden by her hood as she continued forward at a slow pace, her eyes closed and head bowed.

 _... Everything's so quiet out here... Peaceful even, lighter._

She swallowed slightly, sweatdropping a little as she let out a low breath.

 _... It'll be another day or two before I reach the Guild again... Maybe that's for the best, I need sometime to just... Be in silence. To be alone to think._

She slowed slightly, her eyes opening as she glanced ahead, her eyes glinting as she caught sight of a motionless figure ahead of her, arms crossed over their chest and eyes locked forward, locked to her.

 _... Maybe not so much 'alone' after all..._

"How long have you been waiting?" She asked quietly, coming to halt in front of the figure; a boy of about 14. His icy blue gaze locked to her with a neutral expression, his copper hair short and brushed back ever so loosely, light glinting from the single silver hoop in his ear. He wore combat boots matched with a dark grey military jacket and black pants, as well as a pale red shirt.

"Have you been following me since Hargeon?" Frea asked after a moment of silence between them both, he simply blinked at the question, she sighed slightly.

"... You're angry." She mumbled, easily able to feel his anger prickling on the air. Though agitation, or rage, or annoyance... She couldn't tell. It was a pain to focus, her head ached and for a moment she had to close her eyes against the pain.

"Today one of those days?" He asked flatly, his eyebrow raising a moment when she closed her eyes, and there were faint traces of pain on her face for but a moment. Frea opened her eyes to look at him, grimacing slightly.

"Unfortunately, yes." She mumbled quietly, for a moment she looked... Exhausted. The younger immediately noted it.

"Bad?" He asked, his voice and expression ever neutral. Frea paused, not long, but enough he noticed it.

"... Moderate." She answered, eyes glinting. For a moment they passed into a silence that was considerably tense, Frea sweatdropped slightly. This wasn't the first time she wished he would stop being so damned stoic, she wished he'd just let himself blow up- and yet she knew he wouldn't do that. She shook her head slightly,

"... I'm waiting. Yell at me already." She sighed, he blinked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Tch... You really are such a dumbass." He growled, his voice suddenly losing neutrality as anger worked its way in. "How dare you go off on your own? How dare you not tell me where you were going?" He hissed lowly, eyes narrowed to slits yet his voice was so level. "I had every right to come, and yet you deliberately left me out of it. How selfish is that? Do you think I can't handle it? What gives you the right to finish all of this on your bloody own?" Frea swallowed slightly,

 _Stoic voice... But that's anger prickling. Anger and pain._

A flash of pain ran through her own head and she did her best not to wince.

" _I_ had just as much reason as _you_ to destroy the Flash Beast Triad. We've been working together harder than anyone in this country to do it, and on the last Mission to get rid of them for good, you run off and leave me on the _sidelines_?" He snapped, his voice rising from the calm levelness he had thus far been managing to maintain. She would have flinched at it... But it was better than neutrality. "Even for you, that is low, and selfish, and utterly stupid! How much Magic did it cost you to do it all alone? How much Energy?" Frea's eyes fell closed, a bead of sweat falling down her face as his voice suddenly became something like scolding.

" ' _Moderate'_ my ass, you overdid it, and you didn't have to. I could have helped, so why in the bloody hell didn't you let me?!" His voice was stony, seething and so low it was slightly unnerving to hear. Frea simply kept her eyes closed, and she swallowed, simply content with the idea he was actually yelling at her now- even as calmly as he was managing, it was a break away from being neutral all the time. And maybe it served to show he wasn't as numb inside as she felt... That thought made what worry that never went away in her core lessen slightly.

The young boy lift a hand, his eyes glinting in muffled fury as Frea glanced upward toward him, blinking at the sudden movement- and suddenly expecting a move made against her. Her body tensed, awaiting the Magic and the ache it would leave, but he stopped himself, and slowly let his hand fall again.

"Quit being so damned secretive all the time you idiot!" He snapped, Frea simply looked at him.

"... I don't keep secrets from you. I never have." She murmured softly, earning a hard stare in return. "I tell you everything, of everyone I have ever known... You are the only person I am ever truly honest with, I need you to know that. I trust you, more deeply than anyone else, and I wouldn't ever want to hurt you... Everything I have ever done is to keep you safe, happy."

"I'm not your kid." He growled, Frea nodded slightly.

"No, you're my little brother." She murmured without a moments hesitation, he stiffened slightly. "And I love you, I didn't do all of this on my own because I didn't think you could handle it... Hell, you could beat me if you really wanted to. You're strong, brilliant, and stronger than even I am, I don't doubt your ability, and I certainly have never doubted your resolve, not on anything." Frea said softly, her voice low and surprising gentle, and earnest. He blinked as Frea let out a small sigh, "I went by myself... Because I'm selfish, you're right. I had to prove to myself... That I could do it on my own. That I could beat them, and I didn't have to lose anyone to do it." Her voice dropped very low, and the boy went rigid, his eyes widening as a sudden stricken look appeared on his face.

 _L-lose..._

His eyes fell, his fists clenched at his sides as his jaw tightened.

"... I trust you, and your power and your intelligence... But I still couldn't force myself to risk it..." Frea hissed, he shut his eyes tight.

"... I couldn't risk losing you, I don't think I could keep on living if I did." She whispered, her voice tense and slightly wavering. "... I was... _Afraid_..."

The boy's fingernails dug into his palms at that, _that last word_ , a word that _never_ came to mind when anyone thought about her, let alone when he did. It was something so many people thought she just couldn't feel, and usually that was right... Frea was never afraid, not really- but there was one time, one thing she was truly terrified about... And that one thing that shattered his heart too.

"Tch..." He hissed, his shoulders hunched slightly. "You... You're such a pain..." He growled, his head snapping up as he frowned at her, and she simply looked back with glittering eyes. He swiped his hand out in front of him in frustration, not caring to be feeling it and not wanting to let go of his agitation for her so quickly. "Scared or not! Don't _ever_ think you can ditch me like that again, got it?! I can take care of myself, idiot! I don't need you to babysit me!"

Frea blinked, looking a little lost for words, seeing the anger and frustration on his face... But it wasn't rage. It was more... Annoyance maybe, but she swore she felt a flicker of acceptance, though it was all so jumbled she couldn't be sure.

She smiled slightly, nodding a little. "Yeah... I got it." She replied softly, he nodded once with an annoyed huff, but seemed to simmer down immediately as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, but he dropped the subject.

"... How many?" He grumbled, Frea blinked.

"... Hmm...?" She hummed softly,

"How many of them were there?" He huffed, his icy blue eyes moving her way again as he waited for the answer. Frea blinked, before smiling slightly.

"Give or take three hundred." She replied, he blinked.

"That few? And you're already mucked up?" He asked, she sweatdropped. "You _did_ overdo it... What an idiot." He sighed, "I assume the pay was at least decent?" She paused for a minute, the comment catching her slightly off gaurd, before she took a minute to recall what little she had payed attention to about pay.

"... Enough to pay off Fairy Hills and the Guild for a few months at least." Frea replied, but to be honest, it was worth it even without the pay.

"... Fairy Hills... Huh...?" He grumbled, Frea's expression turned fowl a moment, a sudden flare of anger rising in her eyes.

"I don't intend to pay those bastards anything," she hissed. "I've been away from the Magnolia for months now, so I haven't had chance to rectify the 'agreement' we had." Her fists clenched, as she crossed them over her chest and her eyes flashed. "I intend to ratify it with them _personally_ once we get back."

The boy blinked, thinking for a moment if he should mention how bold Twilight Ogre had grown in its harassment in Frea's absence from Magnolia for... It had been about 3-4 months now. In all honesty, there _were_ people in the Guild Twilight Ogre flinched at confronting, but only _one_ person could keep them away altogether, and only one person they would ever listen to.

And that person had been gone for such a long time they had started to feel safe, and Twilight Ogre's harassment about the Guild's debt had grown.

If he were to mention it now it would just rile her up, and he didn't wish to deal with her anger now.

"... Fine." he grumbled, turning his back to her. "Come on, better get moving." Frea's anger disappeared and she smiled a little, slowly following as he started moving up the hill again. "We'll camp out at the top, since I know you'll keep going without sleep for far longer than you should."

"... Heh... Maybe you are the older sibling." She smiled faintly,

"It certainly feels like you're the child." He growled, sweatdropping slightly. He cast a small glance over his shoulder to see her eyes had fallen closed as she followed him in silence, not seemingly paying attention to much of anything- but his eyes noticed the small, subtle weariness in her movement, and he could tell she was drained.

He looked ahead again, eyes narrowed.

He hated it... But in her own way, she had been trying to protect him. And he appreciated it... Though she made stupid decisions for the sake of other people, and gave no regard for herself, as he well knew.

 _... 300 Wizards and she's already having trouble focusing...? She's in more pain than she's admitting... It's worse than usual._

He swallowed, his icy blue eye trailing toward the sky overhead as it was slowly stained orange.

 _An idiot... A carelessly, foolishly kind idiot._


	6. Chapter 6- One Day

**Chapter 6**  
 **One Day**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

"Jynx." Mavis murmured brightly, the pair of them floating over the silent dead as all sound seemed to fade to nothing, the water itself stilled. Jynx appeared beside the blonde in a puff of dark purple, her red eyes glittering as she glanced toward the blonde spirit, smiling herself.

"Hello Mavis." Jynx replied easily, her red gaze flowing out over the water toward the approaching ship, it had been floating aimlessly about the sea for a few hours now. "I have those Lacrima for you... These should be the last, yes?" She asked, her hand raised as five brightly glowing Lacrima appeared in the air before them. Mavis smiled, her eyes closing as she nodded.

"Yes, it's time. Its been seven years... And it took all that time, but with these," Her deep green eyes opened to rest on the Lacrima as she outstretched her hand toward them. "... They've always been filled with such strong, powerful Magic. Without here this spell would have taken longer to unravel, and now it is finally over." Jynx nodded slightly, her hands hooking behind her back.

"I'm glad I did not have to collect these souls that day... Fairy Sphere is truly wondrous Magic, even against the likes of that monster, it lasted." Jynx murmured, "Had Energy Dragon known what these Lacrima were being used for..."

"I am sure she would have come here to unravel the Spell directly, and would not have stopped until it was done." Mavis murmured, Jynx sweatdropped slightly at the thought.

"Yes. She would have." Jynx mumbled, and the result of that? Jynx let her eyes closed, even thinking on it that action would not have ended very well, not for Frea. And probably not for several other people either.

"Let's bring them home, shall we?" Mavis murmured softly, Jynx nodded, before she disappeared in an instant, Mavis waved her hand and he Lacrima floating before her suddenly sunk down toward the water, and told began to shimmer on the surface.

Mavis floated down, her feet resting on the water's surface lightly, her hands hooked behind her back as warmth spread up from the oceans depths below her. Her green gaze remained fixed to the approaching vessel, a familiar flag flown on its mast.

 _Seven years... And so much has happened_.

Mavis smiled slightly,

 _... And in just one day, the world will change again._


	7. Chapter 7- Ache

**Chapter** **7**  
 **Ache**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy** **Tail** **or its characters, only my own** **OC's** **, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

 _The world was spinning, a wreathing mass of blackened and shadowy figures pulling and prodding at every side of him. Hushed voices whispered in the corners, the echoed and disjointed sounds of people screaming and shouting, voices jumbled and yet some of them seemed familiar, but yet not enough to place them._

 _He turned this way and that slowly, his icy blue eyes scanning the greyscale flashes of images appearing in the midst of the dark._

 _This place wasn't unfamiliar, he had been here a few times... Maybe too many times, but at least it was nothing to panic over._

 _His attention turned when the image of a young woman with short choppy hair and a bandana appeared in the shadows, before being promptly replaced by indistinguishable faces. He turned again, his attention fixing the familiar face of the very person he was with at the moment- or at least, in the waking world._

 _He blinked, the movement of the darkness around him suddenly stilling, as suddenly pale grey engulfed everything- and suddenly there stood in front of him, her back turned to him._

 _His head tilted slightly, eyebrow quirked as she glanced over her shoulder toward him, her silver eye catching his as he felt himself stiffen._

 _She was covered in crimson, blood dripping from her mouth, eyes and nose as scarlet stains suddenly held through the clothes on her back, dripping against the floor in steady rhythm._

 _He felt his heart jump, his body rigid and blood running cold at the entirely unexpected image suddenly appearing in front of him. This wasn't the normal occurrence for these dreams, they were all past images, memories... This hadn't happened._ _At least, not like this..._

 _He felt his heart nearly stop, a bead of sweat falling down his face as he swallowed, hard._

 _"... W... Wait..."_

 _He stepped forward, but she was gone in a sudden haze, as a black wave rose up to meet him, swing him sprawling backward in a sudden flood of pitch black ocean._

 **.:+:.**

He started forward, his eyes snapping open and gasping slightly as his attention fixed to the pale light of dawn falling over the grassy glen they lay in.

His eyes snapped sideways, seeing her lying in the grass with her back to him, still very much asleep and not even moving as he woke up. He could hear her breathing, it was deep, and calm... But his heart jumped again when he noticed the cloak over her back had small dark flecks on it.

He hissed, his jaw clenching as he sweatdropped. He'd not bothered to ask, but if she was already having trouble focusing after Death Bolt, she may have done _more_ than just exhaust her Magic Power.

His fists clenched at his sides, anger and annoyance flaring inside of him- not just at himself, but at her too.

He knew damn well she would _never_ say anything if she was hurt.

"You idiot!" He snapped aloud, earning a groggy response from her as she slowly pulled herself from her sleep, a yawn pulling at her lips as she turned slightly toward him, eyebrow quirked.

"...mm? ... It's... It's before dawn, what the hell are you yelling about..?" She yawned again, the words broken apart by it. She rolled over slightly to face him, but he pushed her back away from him, feeling her stiffen and grow rigid under his touch when his hands hit her back. What was worse, she felt _hot_ against his touch, more than what should have been normal, and he heard her hiss under her breath.

Despite himself he felt his heart race in his chest, a small flash of fear and worry settling into his core, driven more forcefully by the lingering memory of the nightmare.

"...mmm... Maybe... Stop with pushing your hands... Kay...?" Frea mumbled quietly, he pulled his hands away instantly, they clenched into fists as he scowled at her back.

"Sit up and take off your cloak and shirt!" He ordered sharply. Frea spared a small, weary glance over her shoulder toward him, she knew that look, and that voice. Scolding, like she was a child, regardless of her years over him in actual age... He really didn't act like a kid, as she well knew.

"... Its not-"

"Now!" He snapped, his tone flinty and leaving no room for argument. Frea blinked, even in the daze her head was in... Was that panic and fear sparking from him? She wasn't sure, nor was she sure why he seemed so uneasy so suddenly... It wasn't all that normal. He was usually more levelheaded.

Frea let out a low sigh, grumbling under her breath as she sat up stiffly. She turned her back on him, her fingers working to untie the cloak and let it fall from her shoulders lightly. She pulled her shirt up over her shoulders, but let it remain resting around her neck as she let her eyes fall closed,

 _Oh yes..._ That was definitely worry, even all jumbled she could tell.

His eyes widened, tracing quickly along the bandages that were wrapped around her torso, the white bled through by bits of crimson in several places, where the bandages had slipped he could see the skin brusing and torn.

"... What in... You... God... Damn it!" He hissed, his eyes flashing angrily, she needn't see him to know there was a scowl on his face.

"... It's not that bad." She murmured softly, "Really, there's only one deep one, the rest are just scratches... These are the only hits that were managed during the whole fight."

"Who hit you? And with what?" He hissed, lightly tracing his fingers along the edge of the bandage to shift them away for a better look. Frea grew rigid under the touch, he felt her stiffen but he didn't let up... Though his fingers moved lightly, more gently.

"... Tomaru. With his sword." She murmured, his stiffened at the familiar name, a flash of anger igniting in his core as the image of the man flashed in his minds eye.

"... Bastard." He growled lowly, his voice like ice. He bit down, his had clenching as he forced himself to not give into what rage was bubbling inside him, instead he focused on that one, long, deep slice that ran through her skin, cutting through as an angry red line among the other shallow slices that ran through her back. He could feel the heat throbbing off of it, and could imagine it was probably immensely painful... It cut through even the spiral scar on her shoulder blade, digging deeper than just the skin, but the muscle and even the bone too in a few places.

"... We're going to the Old Woman's." He said curtly, his fingers working to tighten the bandages back where he had shifted them.

"... I'd really rather not. She's snapped at me enough times already... I don't have the energy for another lecture." Frea murmured her quiet protest instantly.

"I don't care. This wound is already worse than I like. Last thing we need is you laid up with infection, or worse." he replied gruffly. Frea sighed slightly, pulling her shirt back down, he watched her carefully- she was moving stiffly, though she hid it rather well.

"... You're stubborn, you know that?" She grumbled half-heartedly, the lack of argument on the matter did nothing to quell what worry had settled into his stomach. Usually she was much more adament when she didn't want to do something, the both of them could argue for days and yet she didn't.

She was exhausted, he hadn't realized how much until that instant. It was like she had become so stretched out and thin she could hardly pull herself back together again, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat.

The dream rammed back into him, the blood, how it dripped from her skin, staining every inch of her... Damn it, it looked like back then. His heart ached, his heart ached more than he could bear, and yet it was nothing new.

"... Shit." he hissed, his head fell, his forehead landing lightly against her shoulder as she turned back toward him slowly. She blinked at the action, her silver eyes glinting.

"... I wish you'd take better care of yourself." He mumbled, Frea blinked. "... You're always pushing it... And I get why, but you're gonna burn out the way you're going. Even you can't live like this."

Frea's eyes softened slightly. His head didn't lift from leaning against her shoulder, her vision swam slightly in accordance with what muddy mess the world was in her head... But even through all the framented and broken pieces, she felt that ache flow from him.

It was an ache she knew all too well... And one that cut deeper than even the wound scoring across her back.


	8. Chapter 8- Nothing's The Same

**Chapter 8**  
 **Nothing's The Same**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's** , **Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

"Tch... These bastards again.." Chase growled, his eyes narrowed as he turned toward the door. He stood up from his chair, a motion followed by Macao and Wakaba alike, while both Solana and Aisha tensed.

"Tch... We should just run the bastards out of town already." A voice growled lowly, belonging to a dark grey Exceed with darker paws and ears, and a splash of white on her forehead. She wore an outfit that consisted of long pants and a jacket left unbuttoned with a darker blue shirt underneath. On her ears hung several earnings, including one to which a small bell chimed as she moved.

"I agree." A cream colored she-cat beside her with white paws, tail tip and a splash on her forehead, wearing a similar outfit, with a dark maroon shirt and the jacket tied around her waist. There was a bell on a collar about her neck that tingled as she shook her head slightly, her tail flicking in agitation. "They're rotten idiots who don't deserve a damn thing."

"Its not as if we don't have the manpower to do it." A third cat, a male with dark brown fur and darker stripes, and a splash of white fur on his forehead muttered, his eyes narrowed as he took a drink of the mug in his paw. The bracelet to which a small bell hung jingled at the movement. He was dressed nearly the same as the first two, though his jacket sleeves were rolled up and his shirt was deep purple. "... Hmph... I wouldn't mind biting into some of these bastards."

"But you won't, any of you." Wakaba warned, earning small looks of disapproval from the Exceeds. "Bastards or not... There is no denying we owe them money."

"Tch... Yeah but we wouldn't have asked them if we had known they were gonna charge the ridiculous interest they do." Max growled,

"... They wouldn't be knocking on the door if Frea was here..." Aisha murmured, her hands folded on the table top before her. Her purple eyes watched Chase, Wakaba and Macao approach the door slowly.

"Heh, if Frea was around right now these idiots wouldn't dare come around ever again." Solana growled, "There ain't no way she's giving these guys any money... And I'm sure when she gets back she'll be making that very clear." Aisha sweatdropped slightly, seeing the smirks of approval cross the Exceeds lips at having heard her sister say the words.

"... When, she gets back." Aisha murmured, "The Council's been littering the news and magazines with reports of Black Chimera and the Flash Beast Triad for days now... But Frea hasn't been heard from. There's no telling when she's coming back." Aisha paused, "Or Corbynn for that matter."

"Knowing them they probably got lost." Solana smirked, Aisha sweatdropped.

Speaking of getting lost... Everyone on the boat search had been gone a long while too...

"They'll be back before you know it." The dark brown Exceed called from the bar with a smirk, earning the glances of the two sisters.

"And when they are, you'll be sure we're gonna pay these assholes in Twilight Ogre a visit." The dark grey she-cat smirked, her pale blue eyes flashing in excitement.

"Speaking of assholes..." The cream colored Exceed growled, all eyes turning to the doors as they were thrown open, and a band of smirking and gangly looking men strutted in like they were kings. The Guild sweatdropped and scowled at their presence, as Chase, Wakaba and Macao simply met them at the door with as much calm as could be managed.

"Look, Fairy Tail's even more of a dump than last time we showed up." The man at the head of the group sneered,

"What the hell do you want?" Chase's tone was unusually cold and flinty, a stark contrast to how gentle and patient he usually was. He stopped in front of the group, Macao and Wakaba on either side of him as they made one small line blocking the unwanted arrivals from the rest of the Guild.

The small band of Twilight Ogre Mages smiled wryly, hands on their hips and sneering as they glanced around the hall- the man at the head glowering slightly at the line of men that blocked their path, smirking slightly at what disgruntled look passed across Chase's expression for a minute.

"Oi, don't go giving me that look, I might just have to tell the Master we need to double the interest." The man snickered, Chase's eyes flashed as he frowned at the words.

"... let me eat them, please?" The cream-colored Exceed grumbled hotly to the dark-grey she-cat beside her.

"... no." Was the short reply, she earned an annoyed hiss in return.

"We already payed you this month, why are you here?" Macao grumbled lowly, the man at the head picked his nails, looking nonchalant a moment and smiling slightly.

"Yeah, about that- the Master's decided to increase your monthly pay." He snickered, Macao stiffened along with several others in the Guild, Chase's eyes flashed, narrowing to slits as his hands tightened around his arms.

"That is not part of the deal." Chase replied lowly, his usually light and carefree tone giving way to something flinty.

"Don't go tellin' me what the deal is an what it isn't." Was the sharp reply, "You lot ain't got any leverage, you owe us and we get to pick the rules." That man stepped up, right up toward Chase as he glared up at the Energy Mage, smiling darkly as Chase grimaced at how close he got so suddenly- their faces were barely a few inches apart.

"You Fairy Tailers are weak as weak can be, what're ya gonna do? Huh?" He sneered,

The Exceeds had gotten to their feet, ears flat against their heads and eyes glinting in muffled anger. Solana and Aisha had risen to, their eyes narrowed and sweatdropping- a small flash of anger rising in their cores at the sheer fact that that man had even dared try and stare Chase down.

"Chase..." Macao warned lowly, looking a little nervous as he saw the small, quick flash of anger appear in the Energy Mage. He didn't want a fight to break out and he usually wasn't all that worried about Chase being the one to cause one- but in that instant he could see the anger rising and he wasn't sure Chase was gonna keep himself from hitting that idiot.

"... I don't know, get any closer and you might just find out what I'll do." Chase muttered lowly, his tone icy. Aisha and Solana sweatdropped, looking a little nervous now too. ".. maybe your Master will use the money he keeps stealing from us to pay your Hospital bills." The man glared, looking furious as Chase leaned in, taller than the other man by a few inches at least, his blue gaze shining with the most icy fire any of Fairy Tail had seen in him for a long, long while. "Or maybe he won't, he's too greedy to even think about giving up a single bit of Jewel on you idiots."

Wakaba and Macao sighed, sweatdropping heavily as they deflated, seeing the anger and the rage appear on the Twilight Ogre Mages in the next instant, hands balling into fists and all glares.

"You got some nerve, asshole!" The man snapped, though he put some space between himself and Chase. Chase just frowned, not at all perturbed by the sudden anger, in reality he had been anticipating it... he was so, so done with dealing with Twilight Ogre.

"You idiot." Macao grumbled lowly in Chase's direction, immediately aware the several others behind them were tensing up an ready to start a fight. He didn't earn even a glance from the Energy Mage, Chase just kept that icy stare on Twilight Ogre.

"I suggest you leave before you get hurt." Aisha had stepped up quietly, her purple gaze flashing slightly as she shook her head at the Twilight Mages.

"Nah, let 'um stay. They could use a little pain." The cream colored she-cat smirked, her yellow gaze flashing as she growled.

"You are all idiots!" Macao snapped in exasperation, "Starting trouble is just gonna make things worse!"

"Aren't you tired of them picking on us, dad?!" Romeo snapped,

"That's not the point!"

"No, that's exactly the point!" Romeo shot back, "They're just gonna keep beatin' down on us the longer we let them! It's time it stopped!"

"You got a big mouth, brat!" Romeo and Macoa's attention snapped around toward the gruff voice, their eyes landing on the larger of the Twilight Ogre Mages, who had raised a hand in Romeo's direction, looking murderous. Macao moved to put himself between the man and his on, followed closely by the dark brown Exceed, light dancing around the hall as Magic flared in the Twilight Man's hand.

Chase's hand snapped upward, snapping down on the Twilight Man's fist, his fingers wrapped in pale blue and eyes dark.

"Cast that Spell, it's going right back at you." Chase growled, "At this distance, that is going to hurt, _a lot._ "

Chase halted though, the anger and annoyance on his face dissipating in an instants time, falling into something that betrayed shock and confusion, his blue gaze snapped away from the Man he was holding so tightly in his hand, and behind the Twilight Mages toward the closed front doors. His eyes went wide, sweatdropping heavily as his jaw went slightly slack, those standing near him noticed the sudden change in behavior and blinked,

"... what's wrong..?" Aisha asked quietly, her head tilted slightly.

"... there is no... way..." Chase mumbled, not much of an answer but he hardly seemed to be paying any attention to the conflict he had started.

The Leader of the Twilight Mages snapped back to his senses though, looking thoroughly pissed as his attention snapped toward Chase, pulling his sword from his belt as he swung out sharply toward the Energy Mage looking so stunned still.

"You bastards think you can mess with us?!" He snapped furiously,

Chase didn't flinch as the sword sung toward him, not even when the man he was still holding shifted and the other Twilight Ogre Mages started to get ready to jump into the fray.

Aisha's hands glowed pale blue and white, her eyes narrowed as she clapped her hands together, her Magic forming and shaping into a long, smooth edged blade composed of nothing but Magic. She flicked her wrist up, easily running her own sword against the Twilight Man's sword before it even got close to hitting Chase, her eyes narrowed and flinty as she hardly flinched as the weapons made contact. The man stiffened, his attention snapping toward her and looking rather astounded how quickly she had reacted.

Chase stepped back, his hand unlocking from gripping the other man's fists, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping heavily as his hand flicked forward, a small, powerful blast of pale blue knocking the large man back a few paces, though he did nothing else to get into a fight, his eyes never left the door.

 _Energy Signatures... those Energy Signatures... no way..._

"Bad move, assholes."

Twilight Ogre all moved their eyes toward the owner of the voice, their attention landing on Solana as she stepped forward quickly- her hand falling behind her and fist clenched as furiously clashing yellow, orange and red light flared in her quake.

A wall of her Magic flashed in front of them, pounding against the group and knocking the Twilight Mages against the front doors with a painful smack and a rumbling boom. They cringed, bruising immediately and looking all the more angry, Solana stepped up beside her sister, green eyes glinting as Aisha stared them down to.

"Last chance, leave." Solana growled, her fangs flashing at them as she glared.

"Unless you want to know what it feels like to have your asses handed to you by the Cosmic Souls of the Sun and the Moon." Aisha growled lowly, her usually placid and docile attitude disappearing for a moment.

"... tch... you... bitches..!" The man at the head snapped, "Show these assholes who they're messing with, boys!"

"YEAH!"

Twilight halted for a split second, their attention casting backward as they stepped away from the doors they had been slammed against, sunlight filtering in through them as they opened. The Guild in front of them all looked toward the doors too, sweatdropping and rather confused as they struggled to come to terms with who was coming in just then, the light nearly dazzling as compared to the shadowed interior of the building.

"... you have got... to be kidding me.." Chase breathed, his eyes flashing as his face fell.

"Eh? Who are these bastards?" The words broke through the sudden deathly silence that settled over the Guild in those few, short instants.

"And what the hell are they doin' in our Guild?"

"Oi! Back off!"

Twilight Ogre hadn't any time to turn around all the way, the moments going by in a blur as Magic flared, swords clashed, the sound of fists against bodies sounded- and Twilight Ogre were thrown outside the Hall doors, across the clearing outside and all in a sudden flare of light off metal, icy cold and brilliant flame.

Fairy Tail stared, eyes wide an jaws dropped, hardly able to even fathom the collection of people standing in that bright, sunlight filled doorway.

Chase went still, hands limp at his sides and eyes flashing. He felt the panic and the shock flicker off everyone in the hall behind him- and the disbelief... the _hope._

"... that is not..." The cream-colored she-cat grumbled under her breath, "... no way, right...?"

"... this is..." The grey she-cat mumbled, "... un... expected..."

The pinkette sent one last confused glare at the men he had just helped to thrown out, turning toward the building and the collection of staring, stunned people with a toothy grin- his hand fell on his hip as he waved toward them. He was entirely oblivious to the stunned expression and even the tears that had started to fall at the sight of them in that doorway.

"Hey!" He smiled brightly, "Been awhile, huh?"

"NATSU!"

Solana and Romeo had jumped forward, bright smiles and gleaming eyes as they slammed right into the pinkette, their arms locking around him and knocking him to the floor with a painful thud. Their action was mirrored by several other people, Laki and Kinana jumping forward in tandem with Vijeeter and Nab, a whole rush of people suddenly rushing forward, bright smiles and watering eyes as they crashed into the collection of new arrivals in the doorway, cheers and shouts of happiness and excitement filling the air.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Chase didn't move, nor did Aisha next to him or the Exceeds- who settled down at their own table, watching the wash of excitement with soft smiles and gleaming eyes.

 _... is... is this what that feeling was...? That rush of cool air before... something that felt like... hope?_

His legs had been trembling though he hardly noticed, not did he even register the small flecks of tears at the corners of his eyes- his gaze riveted, locked ahead as he took a few steps backward, before he sat down on the floor, legs crossed and propping himself up with his hands behind him. Aisha glanced his way, looking lost, and all the more confused when he suddenly sat down.

"Chase...?" She mumbled, though he still wasn't paying any attention to her.

"Quit exciting, right men~!?" Ichiya had jumped in, smiling as he stopped beside Chase, "Miraculous find! The Island wasn't destroyed after all!"

"... no kidding..." Chase sighed, smiling as he blinked, the tears fading slightly as he shook his head.

"Shit, is that you Chase?" Chase's head snapped up, eyes glinting as Gray suddenly stopped right in front of him- bare chest and trousers, looking astounded. "Come on man, you keep gettin' older every time I see you!"

"Everyone looks so different." Lucy murmured as she drew up near them, her eyes dancing around the hall.

"It's been seven years, men~!" Ichiya added, Lucy and Gray seemed to grimace at that.

"... that's still so hard to wrap my head around.." Lucy mumbled with a heavy sigh,

Chase chuckled, earning blinks from everyone around him.

"... hehe... You think that's confusing?" He smirked, "... try not seeing you lot in seven years, and you look exactly the same as when you left!" He sighed though, shaking his head a little, still smiling.

"... damn... you're gonna explain what happened, right?" Chase smiled lightly, his eyes falling on the figure of the Old Man as he walked toward the small group slowly.

"Indeed." Master Makarov murmured, Chase smirked.

"Great." He chuckled, "Might as well celebrate at the same time though... its not everyday you get to come back from the 'dead'."

A few people smirked at that, looking flustered but relieved- the collection of those left behind were still beaming, their hearts aflutter and the air buzzing with so much happiness and glee it was like electricity against his skin.

"... you have no idea how good it feels to have you back."

 **.:+:.**

Fairy Tail hadn't been so happy, nor so loud in seven long years. The small building absolutely buzzed, laughing and talking and the air flickering with emotions so light and so happy- the kind that hadn't graced the Guild in so very long. They drank and smiled, grinning from ear to ear as stories were exchanged, but more than anything it was just good to see them again... They never dreamed this day would come.

The jovial atmosphere lessened some as Master settled near the bar, his eyes cast to Macao intently as they settled into explaining the important bits of what happened the last seven years.

"There's something you probably oughtta understand about what's been going on the last seven years," Macao murmured, sweatdropping as he crossed his hands around the mug in front of him. He looked tense, conflicted... And maybe even a little ashamed. "We've been hit pretty hard with all of you gone, we've lost a lot of reputation. For the most part we're hardly scraping by paying all the bills we have and bringing in enough money to keep going."

"We haven't been given any of the high paying jobs in years, and we're stuck with the ones that pay little to nothing. Its all we have." Max mumbled quietly, leaning against the bar top with his elbows, "We have to work dozens of jobs at once just to scrape by most of the time, and sometimes we don't even have enough Requests to do that."

Master sweatdropped, eyes narrowed as he listened in with Erza, Gildarts, Mirajane, Reedus and Wakaba. They formed a small, tightly closed group on either side of the bar, all eyes of the Tenrou members fixed to those left behind- seeing immediately that same painful look appear in the faces of Wakaba, Reedus, Macao and Max.

"We almost shut down in the first year." Macao mumbled lowly. "To be entirely honest, the only reason Fairy Tail is still a Guild anymore is because we had Frea and Chase around." Erza and Mira blinked, their eyes flicking across the bustling building to see Chase smiling from where he sat drinking with Gray and Juvia.

"Those two worked their asses off, taking every little job they could, regardless of the pay. They did everything they could to keep bringing in money and help pay off bills and taxes, almost to the point their everyday was dedicated the Guild, and not to living for themselves." Wakaba murmured, shifting his cigar between his teeth. "It got easier when Aisha and Solana joined, they're naturally strong and they do well on bigger missions, but they're still working harder than they should have to."

"The Exceeds have brought in some pull, though they aren't full time Members." Macao murmured, flicking his head toward the coalition of Happy, Moon, Lily, Carla, Iki and Uno.

"Without Chase, Frea, Aisha, Solana, the Exceeds and the kid... Fairy Tail wouldn't be here." Wakaba mumbled, those who had been gone the last Seven years and who were listening narrowed their eyes slightly, biting the insides of their cheeks and eyes falling, they knew it was a reality and it was one they had been faced with constantly.

Erza, Mira, Master and Gildarts looked between the lot of them, feeling their stomachs clench slightly. They could scarcely believe what they were hearing... How could the Guild have fallen so low? Enough that they were barely scraping by?

"We work hard, but there's no doubt it's been Teach who's kept us afloat really." Everyone's heads snapped around to see Chase sit down at the bar with them, apparently having been listening in to the conversation. He smiled slightly, wearily almost as he rest his hand in his chin,

"Teach's done a lot of things she'd have never dared to do before, just to keep us going. And as awful as it is, she really doesn't have a life outside of working to keep us open, everything she does is fueled to keep Fairy Tail around." He smiled a little ruefully, his blue eyes glinting as he bit the inside of his lip a small moment. "She doesn't care about making herself happy... Nor does she really care about herself above everyone else." There was a long pause as his eyes fell, he looked troubled for a small minute, before he glanced up at Master briefly, his eye flicking toward Mira, Erza and Gildarts in turn.

"...You probably ought to know that Teach really isn't like the person you all knew when you left, she hasn't been for a very, very long while." Chase murmured, his voice low.

The members who had been left behind in those seven years all sweatdropped, their eyes falling and shoulders hunching slightly. They bit their lips, their hands clenching in their laps or around their mugs, all of them subdued suddenly and tense... As if they had come across something taboo, or maybe something painful was more accurate.

"... What do you mean?" Mira asked slowly, her blue eyes glittering at the reaction from the members who had been left behind. The reaction was noted by Master, Erza and Gildarts as well, their minds racing and unable to fathom what could have earned such looks.

Chase hesitated a minute, unsure of whether or not he could explain how Frea had changed over the years. It wasn't obvious when you saw her, and then yet it was all at once. It was the little things, how she used to smile, and how she did it now- it was tired, weary, all the time. It was that murderous glint that came into her eyes in the middle of a fight where I had never been before, the coldness when she stared someone down... Daunting.

She was fiercely loyal and cared deeply for the Guild, and yet she had closed herself off, changed... He didn't think he could explain. They'd probably just have to see for themselves.

He sighed a little,

"... To start with, she's a lot stronger than you probably remember." He murmured,

"Frea was always one of the strongest members in the Guild." Erza pointed out.

"And she _is_ the strongest one in the Guild right now." Max replied without skipping a beat. He smiled sheepishly, noticing the looks he received from the Tenrou Members at what a certain assertion his words had been. He shrugged, "Sorry, but it's true."

"You guys have been trapped away, _sleeping_ , for seven years." Chase pointed out. "In that time we've gotten older, trained and grown stronger. And Teach has done that too. There's no contest who's the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail, there hasn't been for a long while. And with how far behind all of you guys are with missing seven years, she's definitely stronger than any of you." He smiled slightly, "Even you Gildarts, though I can tell you don't quite believe it, or you, Master." He added with a glance to Makarov and Gildarts in turn. He shrugged slightly, "Though I really doubt you'll see what I mean unless you see her at work."

Or maybe just being near her would be enough... It usually was for most people.

"And she'd have to be pretty strong, considering what mess we found ourselves in about two years ago..."


	9. Chapter 9- Loud Halls

**Chapter 9**  
 **Loud Halls**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

Frea watched silently as Corbynn rapped his knuckles against the heavy word door of Porlyusica's tree, his eyes fixed ahead and both their ears on high alert for some response from the inside.

"Hey, Granny!" Corbynn called through the door, his head tilted as he waited for some semblance of noise outside the rustle of the trees and the flap of wings overhead.

"... she's not here." Frea murmured after a moment, Corbynn glanced backward at her slowly.

"Are you guessing or do you actually know that?" He asked, she blinked at him, sweatdropping slightly.

"... Guessing." She answered slowly and at length, he frowned slightly.

"Is it really that bad? That you can't even pick out the Old Woman's Energy Signature?" He asked immediately, she sighed.

"... Yeah. I'm having a hard enough time picking out yours." She answered quietly. He stiffened slightly,

"... You're kidding." He grumbled,

"Unfortunately I'm not." She replied lowly, shaking her head slightly as if to clear her senses of some haze... He knew it would do little good, she knew it too.

His eyes flicked downward from her face toward her hands, winding over the rings on her pointer fingers and thumbs, his eyes narrowing when he saw small, hairline cracks running along the surface of the one on her index finger of her right hand.

"... You alright?" He asked after a moment, his eyes moving back up toward her eyes. She blinked at him, fave neutral for a minute.

"... Yeah. I'm good." She murmured, smiling slightly. "Hungry and tired as all hell, but I'm alright." He bit the inside of his cheek, looking conflicted for a minute.

"... Let's go to the Guild. Maybe Granny's there." He suggested, she smiled at him, her eyes glinting slightly. "... We can probably grab some food on the way through town, but we won't stay too long, alright?"

"Sounds good to me." She smirked, he shook his head slightly. "I still gotta stop by the Mayor's to pay off Fairy Hills too."

"Great..." He grumbled, he heard her chuckle under her breath at that. She stepped to the side to allow him room to walk down the stairs, still smiling as he stepped past her.

She followed him back down the steps without a word, and still in total silence even as she rest on arm on his shoulder lightly, and kept it there as they passed under the trees, moving ever toward Magnolia.

Corbynn glanced upward toward her, seeing she had let her eyes fall closed as she allowed him to lead her, a small, faint smile on her face though he could see the exhaustion lingering there still... Frea was good at hiding most things, but he could usually see what others couldn't.

Or maybe she let him see things she wouldn't other people...

"What kind of food do you want?" He murmured after taking a moment to let out a small sigh. "I'm buying this time."

"Ahh, then you get to pick what we eat." Frea replied softly, "I'm always good with anything, as long as it's edible."

"When's the last time you had a proper meal?" He asked lowly,

"Mm? Well... Probably a month. I've just been snacking for the most part, since I've been moving around so often." She replied easily, he only just managed to keep himself from scolding her.

"... Hmph. Since you're done with the Triad, maybe you can actually take some time off, for once in your life." He grumbled,

"Heh, that'd be nice wouldn't it?" Frea replied, her head tilting back slightly. She could feel the sun splash against her face as they left the cover of the trees, though she still didn't open her eyes to look.

"... Gotta rectify things with Twilight Ogre before I even think of leaving." She added in as an afterthought.

"That's not happening today." He said firmly, "We go to the Mayor, get you food and head to the Guild to find Porlyusica. No sidetracking to Twilight Ogre."

"You gonna stop me?" She asked lightly,

"If I have to I will." He replied lowly, she smirked, just a little.

".. Fine then, have it your way. Twilight Ogre can wait another day."

 **.:+:.**

"... in essence... Well, she kinda saved the entire country." Macao murmured softly, his chin leaning in his hand as they settled into recounting (the short version) of what major event that had rocked the Guild on its heels... And particularly it's last remaining Dragon Slayer when the Tenrou Team had disappeared. They had mentioned a few other bits, but it was clear they didn't want to get too far into it, so what they told was little more than an overview, and there were sure to be promptings to tell the stories soon enough.

"Probably more like the entire planet, in the grand scheme of things." Wakaba corrected, "... If she'd lost, I doubt we'd all still be around."

"You're not serious?" Erza murmured,

"Oh we are." Macao and Wakaba said in unison, before frowning slightly at the one another as if they were about to argue over interrupting eachother.

"It was a big thing... An insane and crazy thing that almost landed us all dead." Chase broke in. "It may not have been that bad if it hadn't happened so soon after everything with Black Chimera, Death Bolt and Phoenix Tear... And Chess." He broke off, his voice lowering as Macao, Wakaba, Reedus and Max all flinched at the name. "Teach wasn't in a good place before it happened... Neither was the rest of the Guild really. Teach had already been pretty hurt beforehand, and her emotions were on such a high... I'm still surprised she handled it all so well. Especially against someone so powerful."

"... I'm a little confused." Mira murmured. "... What do you mean? Who's Chess? And what did they have to do with... With Frea, and the Guild?"

"... Chess was a Member of the Guild." Chase murmured, his hand lift as he gestured toward a board set behind the bar, where papers and pictures were pinned up in a colorful array, and that hadn't been disturbed in a long time. There were pictures of them, the Tenrou Team, and even some of the Exceeds, and the sisters Aisha and Solana.

In particular he gestured toward one in the middle, their eyes immediately catching sight of a young woman with russet colored hair and icy blue eyes grinning at them, her arm hooked around the shoulders of a younger boy who looked like her.

"She joined along with her little brother, and she and Teach hit it off. They joined up as Partners, and worked together for months. Chess was a spectacular Mage... She could go head to head with Teach, and that's really not something most people can do." he smiled wistfully a moment, his eyes falling closed. "She was stubborn, and nearly as hotheaded as Teach can be... But they worked well together, and grew really close. Chess was about the only person who could get Teach to take a step back and worry about herself more than anyone else... To be honest she was one of only two people who Teach'll actually listen to, and do as they ask."

Master, Mira, Erza and Gikdarts sat in tense silence, their eyes narrowed and sweatdropping slightly. They could see from the pain and the sadness that appeared in the Energy Mages face that the ending to this tale wasn't so light. Chase let out a sigh, deciding it probably best to start from the beginning.

"... Three Major Dark Guilds formed a Triad among the Baram Alliance. Black Chimera, Phoenix Tear, and Death Bolt. Together they managed to nearly take over all the other Dark Guilds, and all the smuggling and assassinations." Chase's voice dropped, his blue eyes fixing to his cup in front of him. "They were ruled by a collection of incredibly powerful Dark Wizards, and wrought havoc for years. The Council wanted them gone, badly, but hadn't been able round anyone up who was willing to take them on... Until Frea got involved."

"... Thinking on it now, its been all the trouble with the Flash Beast Triad that's brought all the new members in, huh?" Wakaba murmured, his eyes trailing over Solana, Aisha and the Exceed Trio in turn.

"Yeah, and it's a shitty thing for it to be able bring so many people together." Macao grumbled,

"Mm, about two years after you all went missing, that's when the Triad got really busy." Chase explained, seeing the question appear on the faces of those who hadn't been around. "Teach and I had been running around trying to scrape by, we'd been hearing things about the Triad and even run into a few of them on occasion. Teach got involved where she had to, but never fully took it on- at least until we ran into those two." Chase flicked his head back in the direction of Solana and Aisha- to which the latter was showing off her younger sister to Natsu, smiling all the while.

"Aisha and Solana had started their own war against both Pheonix Tear and Black Chimera, even being as young as they were at the time. They had been separated from one another for a few years, torn apart by Phoenix Tear when the Guild attacked their hometown. Solana managed to escape, and tracked Pheonix Tear for a very long time. She thought Aisha had been taken prisoner by Phoenix Tear, and then Black Chimera." The Tenrou Members stiffened, anger and surprise lighting in their eyes at the news. "Of course she hadn't any clue Aisha had escaped almost right away, and had instead been tailing Black Chimera, collecting what information could with the intent on crippling them. She thought Solana had been killed, and had every right to think it too, from what I understand of what happened to their town." Chase told them quietly, "They found one another, as you can see. And instead of settling down in a nice town and enjoying life, they decided to wage an all out war against Black Chimera and Phoenix Tear, they spent their time collecting secrets and destroying smaller hubs of the Guilds all over Fiore. Teach and I had been on our way back to Magnolia when we felt some insane amount of Magic... Hehe, those two idiots were making an absolute mess of a small hideout belonging to Pheonix Tear when we found them. And that was back before they had been properly trained." Chase leaned back slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It was trap though, they'd managed to really piss off the Guild Leader- Kane Deatte- set up a series of serious Spells to keep them trapped inside and transport many of his top Wizards inside when they least expected it. It was a ridiculously hard fight, even for Teach and I, but we managed it, and pissed Kane off all the more, no doubt." He smirked, "After that Teach was more than ready to jump into all out war, and Solana and Aisha were all too happy to join up when she told them her plan. They've been here since, and have helped with more than just the Triad. They were fairly strong with Magic when we found them, and have only gotten better since joining- Teach and I helped them train for a year or so. Before that they had been running on luck and sheer talent alone."

"They _still_ do that, but at least they know how to properly fight and use their Magic." Max smiled, Chase nodded.

"Hehe... well, anyway- the Exceeds joined up three years ago... Well, 'joined up' is relatve. They aren't full time members, but they do help with jobs around the Guild, especially so with things including the Triad." Chase went on, "They're actually the Guild Masters of their own Independent Guild. Teach struck up a formal alliance with their Guild- Three Fangs- to try and fight back and prevent the murders Death Bolt was carrying out. They'd had a run-in with the Guild Leader before, who's son and daughter they had befriended. They hadn't attempted any moves toward Death Bolt until the kids were attacked and nearly killed, and from there they had promised to disband Death Bolt. They found out Teach had accepted the job of defeating the Triad from the Magic Council, and approached her about coming together to get it done. From there they've stuck around the Guild and helped out past what the original agreement was... Not that anyone minds, they're good to have around and we appreciate the help. Especially so since they do it while also looking after their own Guild and it's Members."

"We've set up our own spy network around Fiore. With most of our Guild being other Exceeds, they're good at hearing little trade secrets most everywhere, and we can get messages sent quickly and silently. It's been extremely useful, especially when we were trying to find Death Bolt's main base." Their heads snapped around at the sudden voice, as Moon settled on the bar top with a small, maybe a bit prideful smile, her paws on her hips. "It was enchanted to transport itself to hundreds of locations on a regular basis, so pinning it down for an all out assault wasn't easy. We had our Members keep their ears to the ground in the known meeting locations of Dark Guilds, collecting all sorts of information on where the Guild went and how long it stayed in any one place. We eventually managed to snag a key, that let us enter the Guild from any door we wanted." She smirked, "That one was mostly thanks to Uno's quick paws, but it was a collective effort overall."

"... this all seems like quite the operation you pulled yourselves into." Gildarts murmured, "You said the Magic Council wanted this 'Triad' dealt with, if Frea took on the job, and the Guild took it on in lieu of that, wouldn't you have gotten paid? How are you still struggling with bills?" He paused, "... Or am I to take it the Triad hasn't been dealt with?"

"We got payed for taking down every leg we managed." Chase replied, "Which was two, up until Frea finished off Death Bolt a few days ago, from what the Magic Council has been reporting." He paused, looking weary. "... and it's a large reward, but we are... Very, _very_ in debt..." He sweatdropped slightly.

"Between paying for Fairy Hills, this Building, food, our own houses and apartments, and of course... That damned debt we have to Twilight Ogre..." Macao grumbled, "... With how little Requests we actually get, the money we've gotten for the Triad's dismantlement has lasted us a few months at a time, but it doesn't pull us out our debt completely. And with how secretive the Council's been about everything involving the Triad, we don't get hardly any recognition for taking them down either. No one hardly even thinks about Fairy Tail any more we've fallen below the bar so low."

"What's this about Twilight Ogre?" Master asked lowly,

"... We borrowed money from them a while ago, with every intention of paying them back- but they charged some ridiculous interest rates we didn't agree on in the start, and have been a pain in the ass since." Macao grumbled, "... And Frea hasn't made it better, she's been refusing to pay them anything. I don't like the idea of handing over money to those bastards either, but with her being gone so long they've gotten pretty bold... As you saw earlier."

"They listen to Frea?" Mira murmured,

"Everyone listens to Frea. Lots of people are actually afraid of her." Max smiled nervously, Reedus nodded silently in agreement, his attention fixed to his canvas still, but always listening in.

"She's one scary woman, can't deny." Moon smirked, "She even gets my fur to stand on end sometimes, as she _likes_ me."

"... Why has she been gone so long? Where is she?" Erza pressed,

"You said she defeated Death Bolt a few days ago?" Master inquired, eyebrow quirked- though silently he intended to have a word with this Twilight Ogre Guild Master. Surely if Frea refused to pay them, they didn't deserve to be paid, and he'd like to end what conflict there was between their Guilds swiftly.

"That's what the Council said, though they didn't give any details of course." Chase replied,

"Of course _defeated_ is relative. Death Bolt has been a splinter of what it was for a few years now, we did assault their main Base all together, and arrested most of the Guild." Moon gestured between herself, Chase, Aisha and Solana, and Iki and Uno. "Of course some of them got away and went into hiding, along with the Guild Leader- but they haven't been at full force. The ones Frea took out were just what little of them that was left."

"As for why she's been gone, she doesn't spend too much time in Magnolia anymore. She travels from town to town completing jobs and assignments and hardly has time for a break. She's been gone a few months without stopping in, which is a little out of the norm for her- but that's because she's been honing in on tracking what stragglers she could find in the meantime." Chase took over again, answering Erza's question now. "As for _where_ she is exactly, I'm not sure. Last I saw her was about a week ago."

"We got a note from Nadi this morning, saying he saw both Frea and Corbynn on the road back to Magnolia a day ago." Moon offered the information with a small smile,

"Ah, so they should be here some time today if they don't get sidetracked." Chase murmured,

"Which, knowing them they will." Max chuckled under his breath.

"Corbynn?" Mira echoed,

"Chess's little brother." Chase explained easily, "... I suppose we didn't get to that part either, huh?" He sighed, "... Well, Teach met Corbynn and Chess about... I think it was four years ago now? It was just around after we finished training Solana and Aisha, and had started full swing into tracking down Black Chimera. We hadn't been able to pin Death Bolt down then, and Phoenix Tear was in the wind at the time, but we mamaged to pin Black Chimera into a corner. Teach, Aisha, Solana and I moved out to take on their base, and set free what people they had taken as slaves."

There was a dark flash of anger that ran across the faces of the Tenrou Team, Erza especially.

"Slaves?" Master nearly growled,

"Phoenix Tear handled the smuggling of Magical items and Weapons, Lacrima, that sort of thing." Macao murmured,

"Death Bolt handled all the assassinations." Wakaba muttered,

"Black Chimera raided outlying towns and villages, capturing people alive and forcing them into slavery in other, smaller nations outside of our own." Moon grumbled, "Yeah, the Triad is- well, was- full of bastards. That's why we worked so hard against it."

"We knew where Black Chimera was moving the people out into other countries, so we went to take the base, and that is where we met Chess and Corbynn." Chase sighed, "There's a country on the border, called Agdnei. It's king was paying Black Chimera a lot of money to bring them captured Wizards, more so for powerful Wizards. Agdnei wanted them to make some sort of... Super Magic Weapon, that fed off Magic Energy. Chess and Corbynn had been captured by Black Chimera for only a few days when we arrived, and they definitely fit the bill for what Agdnei wanted."

"Ah, and before you ask about Adgnei." Moon spoke up when Chase trailed off for a small moment. "That mess was cleared up too, the people who were enslaved and the people who lived in poverty under the crown and it's nobles rose up in rebellion a year ago. Its been in civil war since, with the monarchy destroyed and the common people trying to pick up the peices. What Magical weapon they were trying to make was destroyed in the war, promise. We checked."

"It's a good thing too, Agdnei runs on invention and Magical tools." Max grumbled, "Whatever they were building could have been seriously bad."

"Yeah..." Chase sighed, "... Anyway, Chess and Corbynn were captured, but Black Chimera was having a hard time holding them. They had special bindings for people with Magic, but those two were so powerful even the enchantments weren't doing much good. So much so that by the time we got there Black Chimera wasn't even paying attention to any of the other people they had taken prisoner. Every Dark Mage was preoccupied trying to control Chess and Corbynn, and they weren't having much luck doing it." He smirked, "Getting the other people out was easy, Solana and Aisha worked with me to get them to safety while Teach jumped right into the fray. She had those Magic Bindings destroyed before the Black Chimera mages even realized she was there, and then they were too late to try and defend against Chess and Corbynn's wrath for having chained them in the first place. In one night we had Black Chimera's main hub destroyed and decimated nearly all of their members." He smiled, "The Council was reeling at that, before then they had taken Teach's agreement to help only lightly. They took it a bit more seriously after that, and Chess and Corbynn joined the Guild for the same reason Aisha and Solana had- they wanted the Triad taken out and they were willing to do anything to do it."

"Hmm... After that, we kept fighting with Triad. Teach partnered up with Chess, Moon and her siblings joined, and we kept at it. Chess and Teach hardly ever went on a job without one another, Teach helped her train Corbynn, and took him under her wing. Those three were quite the Team... And Chess and Teach were nearly unstoppable." Chase's eyes fell closed. "... Nearly being the word. We took down both Black Chimera and Phoenix Tear with her around, and when we went after Death Bolt... We lost Chess."

Erza, Mira, Master and Gildarts stiffened, sweatdropping.

"... Death Bolt was the strongest of the Triad, and we knew that. But we didn't think we'd lose, and we certainly didn't think anyone would get killed. We were wrong... losing Chess broke everyone's hearts, especially Corbynn... But losing her just... _Broke_ Frea." He shuddered slightly at the memory of it, his hand holding his cheek and his fingers absently tracing the scar running along the bridge of his nose. "... She wasn't right for a long time after it... Even more so since what happened with Mordren came into play only a month after Death Bolt. She hasn't been the same since then, slowly she's gotten back to being mostly her... But I don't think she'll be herself ever again."

"... they... They were that close...?" Mira mumbled, her blue eyes shinning.

"... They were more than friends, if that's what you're asking." Chase smiled sadly, he could feel the pain prickle from everyone, and the shock and sadness too. "But I don't expect Teach'll talk about with you guys, and it's probably better not to ask her. So its good you heard it from us first."

They fell into a tense silence for a few long moments, their minds clouded with so many thoughts at once, as Master, Erza, Mira and Gildarts tried their best to make sense of everything they had heard just then. It was all the note painful just how much had happened and they had missed when they saw the pain in the faces of those left, and even more so what grief and sadness the Guild had been through in all that time... It hardly seemed fair.

Chase glanced up, his eyes falling behind him and toward the front door for a minute, blinking once or twice. They would have wondered where his attention had gone if the Tenrou  
Members didn't suddenly grow still, their bodies freezing as they felt waves of some impossibly potent, and throbbing power reached them on the air.

The air was shaking, pulsing camlmly with waves of sheer, heavy Magic, and Magical Pressure of the likes they had never felt before. It sent shivers running down their spines, even Gildarts and Master as they glanced toward one another. They had seldom felt Magical Pressure like this from each other, let alone wherever this Magic was coming from, or who.

Those left beind felt it too, though they weren't concerned by it in the slightest, they didn't tense against it, it was familiar to them.

Laxus glanced up from listening to Freed and Bixlow bicker on, his eyes narrowed as he felt it too- tense as several other people seemed to grow, though they didn't seem to understand what it was.

"... that Magical Pressure..." Erza murmured under her breath, sweatdropping.

"... Its so potent..." Mira mumbled,

"Ah, speaking of her." Chase smiled, his usual easy going air appearing once again. He lightly stood up from his seat, abandoning his drink as Moon's ears twitched in his direction. "Feels like Corbynn and Teach are back."

Master blinked, his eyes widening slightly.

"... You mean that Magic... Is _Frea's_?" He asked quickly, "That can't be right."

"Sorry Old Man, but it's definitely her." Moon answered, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "I know its overwhelming at first, but you get used to it."

"Its _stifling_." Erza answered,

"I told you Teach was stronger than you remember." Chase replied lightly, "And Max is right- she's the strongest one here. No contest." He smiled a bit more, before leaving them in their shocked silence as he headed toward the door.

He felt tenseness prickle from the Tenrou Members as he passed them by, many of them feeling what he could- but not in the same sense. The conversations kept going around him, though they all felt it, regardless of them caring or not.

"Don't look so tense guys." Solana smirked, her green gaze settled on the group of Gajeel, Levy, Natsu and Lucy in front of her.

"... You do feel that, don't you?" Lucy mumbled,

"You'll get used to it, trust me." Solana chuckled,

"It's just Frea." Aisha added in softly, her purple eyes glinting as the group in front of her went utterly rigid at the statement.

"Huh?!" Natsu snapped,

"Silver?!" Gajeel snapped, "That can't be, this feels stronger than the Old Man."

"Well, Frea is our top Mage for a reason." Aisha smiled slightly, "... And you guys are kinda behind on the times." She added in quietly.

"... This feels like a different person entirely..." Lucy mumbled,

Chase pulled up at the doors, smiling slightly still as he watched the doors open, he sweatdropped though.

This Magic... Her Pressure was stronger than it usually was, suffocating almost and yet not so. It faded slightly after a few moments, but it was still there, as ever... And more than it should have been.

 _Maybe it's time for another ring..._

The doors opened as two figures stepped inside the hall, he raised a hand in a small wave as he stood to the side slightly.

"Hey you two," he smiled. "Guess who's back?"

 **.:+:.**

Their trek through the forest hovering over Magnolia was pleasant and slow, Frea's arm still resting lightly on his shoulder as she walked beside him, her hunger satisfied most pleasantly from a shirt stop in a Cafe in town Square. They had taken time to stop by the Mayor's office and pay off Fairy Hills for the next few months at least, leaving the man behind as he most assuredly watched them go with a sympathetic face. Most of the people in Magnolia gave the Fairy Tailers those looks, sadness and regret. Frea would have hated it, but she didn't care anymore. She had long since stopped doing so.

Corbynn glanced toward her every once in awhile, his eyes narrowed as he watched her movement for any sign that would tell him what pain the wound on her back was getting worse. She walked easily enough, if a bit stiffly at times... But he couldn't shake off the dream even now.

People might have said he worried too much about her... But damn it, someone needed to.

His eyes snapped up toward her as her arm lightly slid from its resting place on his shoulder, seeing her take a small step to put some distance between the two of them as her hands moved up to the ties that held her cloak on her shoulders.

"... The air feels nice today." She smiled wistfully, meeting the cloak fall away from her body as she lightly wrapped it up into a bundle and stuffed it inside her bag. His eyes traced over the bits of bandages he could see sliding past her sleeveless shirt.

Her hand moved up to grab the pendant that hung from the collar around her neck, it snapped off the small chain easily with what Magic it was enchanted with, as she promptly tossed that into the bag as well, before tying it closed and holding it in her palm.

There was a familiar wave of pressure that emanated from her in the next instant, silver light dancing up around her hand and the bag. Her Magic sent the bag fading from view entirely, Magically transporting it and everything it held back home and leaving her without having to carry it any longer.

Corbynn stiffened slightly though, he had seen her do something so simple many times before... But her Magical Pressure made him pause. It was stifling on its own on a regular day... But usually it wasn't that heavy with such a small spell. And the pressure didn't hardly settle down when she was done either.

He bit his lip, he'd have to have a talk with Jynx as soon as he could manage.

The Guild Hall came into sight before long, Frea having continued walking with her arms hooked behind her back. They had hardly made it halfway across the clearing before they both halted.

Frea and the Corbynn quirked their eyebrows at the unconscious and senseless heap that was made up of Twilight Ogre Mages across the clearing from the noisy, and alcohol reeking Fairy Tail Building. They were out cold, and clearly from Twilight Ogre though seeing them there was a slight surprise,

"... Hmm...?" Frea hummed,

"... Kinda looks like Moon, Iki and Uno finally lost it and beat the crap out of those guys." Corbynn mumbled,

"... I wouldn't put it past them." Frea murmured lowly, smiling faintly for a split second. "Well, perhaps Twilight Ogre won't be so shocked when I show up tomorrow." Corbynn blinked at her, shaking his head slightly but saying nothing.

He faintly wondered if she would leave the Twilight Ogre Guild Hall standing after their 'chat'.

He glanced up, seeing her nose twitch slightly as a small frown pulled at her face a moment.

"... Mmmm. It smells like they pulled out every type of booze we had left and dumped it everywhere." She grumbled, "... Maybe we should just... _Not_ , go in right now." He blinked,

"... What? Not interested in _why_ they're being so noisy just because of a smell?" He asked flatly, annoyed slightly as she still seemed slightly intent on giving up on finding Porlyusica altogether.

"... I suppose... I do wonder what they're up to." She mumbled, looking wary still. "... And why it called for so much alcohol. This isn't normal, now that you mention it."

He hadn't mentioned it, but that hardly mattered just then.

Frea shrugged her shoulders slightly, letting out a small breath as she started forward toward the doors.

"Now let's hope someone's sober enough to give an explanation, hmm?" She hummed as he stepped forward after her, her hand reaching out toward the door as she slowly pushed it open, her eyes half-way closed and sweatdropping.

She braced herself for the new wash of liqueur reeking air that was sure to spill out and meet her.

She stopped, the doors opening softly as the noise spilled out, Corbynn stepping up beside her as they both looked into the hall uncertainly.

"... Hmm...?"


	10. Chapter 10- Reality?

**Chapter 10**  
 **Reality?**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

Chase's greeting went entirely unheard, the both of them didn't even glance his way as they came to a halt in the doorway. The Energy Mage didn't seem to mind though, nor was he all that surprised either, his eyes simply fixed to her, narrowing slightly when he caught sight of the bandages through her shirt, and for the first time noting the prickle of pain on the air.

The Guild didn't even notice for a few, brief seconds as the doors opened fully. Before their eyes moved to the entrance and words died on their lips, the eyes of the Tenrou Team riveted and some of them with their jaws dropped,

Everyone left behind had grown older, and they had changed... But Frea, her appearance caught them off guard, and some of them had to stifle what well of shock and worry rose inside them in the next instant.

She was _covered_ in scars, so many of them, deep and long, and shallow too for a few, running along the exposed skin of her arms like tally's. There was a particularly deep one that stretched across over her shoulder, coupled with two more that stretched up under her jaw and across her cheek on the left side of her face. There were surely more they couldn't see littering her skin under the deep blue sleeveless shirt she wore, and her long black pants, and her thigh high boots.

Her silver gaze locked ahead, trailing over every head slowly as her face fell neutral, not moving an inch as she looked into the room. The bottom of her hair reached just under her jaw, where the Tenrou Members recalled her usual long hair and ponytail, they were now faced with a Frea whose hair was cut short, and choppy at the silver ends.

She looked like an entirely different person.

Her hands fell at her sides, her head tilting ever so slightly as her face remained entirely neutral. The boy beside her looked out across the Guild, though his usually stoic expression was turned to one of confusion.

"Who in the hell...?" He mumbled under his breath,

"Frea!"

Natsu jumped forward, pink hair wild and expression twisted in question and something like excitement. He appeared right in front of her,

"The hell happened to you?" He asked, rather tactlessly, gesturing toward her colorful array of scars. "And what the hell did you do with your hair?" she blinked at him, no flicker of emotion flashing across her face for even an instant.

Corbynn jumped slightly, Frea's hand falling on top of his head, her fingers curling into the russet strands, though she wasn't looking at him when he glanced upward toward her.

"... Laerre dei heinn?" She mumbled lowly, her voice altering to fit what language the words were, a language lost and yet in her she still let it live.

Chase and Corbynn both stiffened, sweatdropping slightly at the cryptic string of words, that to Natsu- made absolutely no sense. But to them it meant a great deal, and they swallowed slightly.

"... no, there are definitely a bunch of people in the Guild." Corbynn mumbled, he swore he felt her hand stiffen on his head.

Her hand left his head in the next instant though, so he wasn't sure.

Frea stepped forward toward the pinkette, her eyes falling closed as she cleared the distance between them quickly. Natsu stiffened slightly at her movement, his eyes widening a little and unsure of what it was she was about to do.

Chase stepped sideways, pulling himself closer to Corbynn as he glanced down toward the younger.

"Bad Day?" Chase asked quietly, Corbynn sweatdropped slightly.

"... Apparently worse than I thought." He replied, Chase sweatdropped himself.

Frea's hand reached forward, lightly pressing her index finger to his forehead as his eyes landed on the rings in that finger and her thumb, seeing them duplicated on the other hand. He felt a shiver run down his spine at the contact though, he could feel her Magic pulsing on the air in invisible waves, regardless of the fact that she wasn't using it.

"... Uh..." He mumbled, her head tilted slightly, her eyes still closed, before her hand fell away and the other one raised, both of them weaving through his hair as she leaned forward, her forehead touching his lightly.

"... I have never been so happy to feel that wild Energy of yours in all my life... Natsu." She mumbled softly, her lips twitching in a small, weary smile. She pulled away, her eyes glinting and expression unreadable, she smiled still though, just slightly.

There was a wash of relief that rammed into her, happiness and shock too... But it was pleasant. Like a breath of air after having been under the water for years on end. She felt her heart speed up, a small tingle running through her heart as her fingers touched him- real, _alive_.

For the first time in seven years they were there and they weren't just ghosts... for the first time in seven years she felt like the world suddenly started moving again.

It was a lot... But she didn't really dwell on it, she had long since stopped dwelling on her emotions for too long... It was just tiring.

"Now," she murmured, her arm hooking around his shoulders as she pulled him to her side, starting to walk toward the center of the Guild. Natsu stumbled slightly, feeling her grip around his neck tighten, leaving him unable to pull away even if he tried.

"Would anyone care to explain where in the _hell_ you've all been for seven damned years?"

There was a bit of an edge in her voice, to anyone paying attention enough. She never stopped smiling, but Natsu could feel her grip around him tighten more.

Her eyes cast up toward Master Makarov, halting in front of him as she waited patiently for an answer, Natsu struggling now to get away but her grip was like iron.

"Well, Old Man?" She murmured, Master blinked.

"... The First Guild Master put in place a Spell that hid the island, and kept it safe from Acnologia." Master replied, "It stopped time inside for seven years, as the Spell was being unraveled." Frea blinked, for a minute she simply stared. Master's eyes narrowed slightly to seem some faint ghost of a... Of some angry look make its way into her eyes before it was gone.

"Funny, Mavis and Jynx never mentioned that." She grumbled, her eyes casting sideways and oblivious to the shock that passed over his face at the statement.

"Apologies, Energy Dragon." There was a haze of purple and gold that appeared beside Frea in the next instant. Makarov nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Jynx, and those who hadn't gone to find the island jumped at the appearance of Mavis for the first time in the hall- Frea did not look surprised at the sudden arrivals in the slightest.

"... did you know about... Mavis...?" Corbynn asked quietly, having stayed near Chase, backed up a few paces from where Frea was now. He had never seen the little blonde girl before, nor had Frea ever mentioned the apparent 'First Fairy Tail Guild Master'. Chase sweatdropped, his blue eyes glinting.

"... no." Chase mumbled back,

"Fairy Sphere was a powerful Spell, and unwinding it was a long, and arduous task. There was no telling how long it would take, and in way of allowing you cause to undo the Spell yourself, we instead chipped away at it with periods of Magic Power every few weeks." Mavis explained easily, "If we had told you, we were sure you wouldn't have rested until Fairy Sphere unraveled, and the detriment to your health was something we didn't want to risk."

"That's what you wanted all those Lacrima for." Frea grumbled, her tone low as her eyes flashed for a moment. "Every few weeks, four or five Lacrima with roughly 40% of my Surface Magic Energy. You were using them to unravel Fairy Sphere." She looked angry for a split second, Mavis and Jynx sweatdropped a little. They weren't surprised she had pieced it together so quickly, no, but they hoped she'd refrain from getting too angry with them.

"Yes." Both Mavis and Jynx said in unison.

"That wasn't your choice, I had the right to know." Frea growled, her eyes flashing with some dangerous light that the Tenrou members had never seen in her, they felt shivers run down their spine as a spark of what insane Magical Pressure coming from Frea suddenly flared a bit brighter.

Frea paused though, her eyes moving from the two spirits when her ears caught some small, faint noise of something cracking a little. Her eyes moved down toward the arm that still held Natsu in place, sweatdropping slightly.

Jynx glanced in the same direction, her eyes seeing the metal of the ring on Frea's index finger glow pale white along the cracks that had spread just a bit farther in that instant. She blinked, before Frea's hand closed into a fist and kept the ring from further view.

Moon's ear twitched, the bell on her earring tingling softly as her blue eyes narrowed at Frea for a minute. She glanced sideways toward where she had left Uno and Iki, her eyes meeting Iki's teal one, he looked to her in silence as he nodded at her slightly, she sweatdropped a little.

Corbynn's eyes narrowed to slits, seeing Frea halt in her rise in anger, most assuredly because even she noticed her Magic Power rising, and that was never a good thing to let get out of hand. He let out a low breath, his hand falling into his jacket pocket as his fingers found that smooth, round ball of metal had had in there for safe keeping.

She let out a low growl under her breath, forcing herself to take in another, calming her sudden anger and annoyance regardless of how little she wanted to let Jynx and Mavis' withholding of information go.

"... fine. I get why you didn't tell me." Frea grumbled lowly, Jynx and Mavis alike seemed relieved she had given in. "Don't think I'm gonna let it slide so easily though."

"We understand." The ghosts replied,

"Oi! Let me go!" Natsu grumbled, finally fed up with her continued hold on him.

"Hmm?" Frea murmured, her eyes turning toward him, looking almost surprised he had said anything, before she smirked. "Ah, sorry Flame-Brain, forgot you were there." She easily unhooked her arm from around his neck, he stepped away the minute she let go, looking cross.

"How the hell do you forget I'm there?!" He snapped, she shrugged slightly.

"Just do." She replied, she took in a deep breath, her nose twitching slightly as her eyes fell closed a minute.

 _... That certainty smells like everyone's back... hmm? His scent too... so was I right? He was on Tenrou with everyone else, even when he wasn't supposed to be?_

"You act like you ain't even happy to see us." Frea's eyes opened as Gray smirked at her, her thoughts snapped back to the present.

"Hmm? Oh don't be stupid, of course I'm happy, just don't expect me to jump around." She chuckled, earning small smiles from most everyone else. "The Guild hasn't been this full in a long time... It's nice."

"Well it's definitely good to be back." Lucy sighed,

"Though honestly it only feels like we've been gone a day." Levy mumbled, "Everything's changed so much." There were murmurs of agreement that rose up around the building, Frea blinked, before sighing slightly.

".. Don't sweat it too much, you'll catch up." She assured easily,

"Then let's fight!" Natsu smirked, looking pumped suddenly as he grinned at Frea. The Energy Dragon Slayer blinked at him,

"Not a good idea, Natsu." She murmured, her lips twitching in a smirk.

"Ah come on! I've been itching for a brawl since we got back, I wanna see how strong you've gotten!" He smirked, "Not afraid, are you?"

"Hmmph... You won't stand a chance, Flame-Brain." Frea answered easily, looking slightly amused but no more compliant on the challenge. "You've been trapped in a Spell for seven years, so you are at the same level as when you left. I am nowhere near where I was when you last saw me, so I think it better we skip the fighting." Her eyes left him as she turned toward the pair of Uno and Moon who floated up and landed on either of her shoulders.

"You wanna fight Salamander?" Uno smiled,

"We'll take you on. That way it'll last longer." Moon smirked, her eyes glinting. "Though, not too long. We are Guild Masters after all, gotta set a standard."

"Wha? You two are Guild Masters?!" Natsu exclaimed, several other people who had yet to hear the news blinked in shock.

"Hehe, I'd like to see the look on your face when we beat you." Uno snickered, "I bet it's gonna be priceless!"

"Fine! You wanna fight, let's go!" Natsu smiled, his own competitive nature clashing strongly with Uno's in the next instant.

"Take it easy on the damage, will you?" Frea smiled softly, Moon chuckled.

"Oh don't worry, it'll be over before things get too far out of hand." Moon assured, "Anyone else care to join in? I dare say Salamander's gonna need all the help he can get."

"Oi!"

"Hehe, let's go." Gray smirked, his elbow resting on Natsu's shoulder as he smirked at the two she-cats. "We can take on two cats easy, now can't we, Natsu?" Natsu slammed a flame encased fist into his palm, by now too fired up to worry over Frea's refusal to fight with him.

"You bet!"

"Let's have at it then." Moon smiled, "Better do it outside, the Guild's hardly standing as it is." The two boys smirked,

"Sure thing." Gray chuckled,

"... how can they have any energy left for this?" Lucy mumbled,

"Foolish." Carla grumbled,

"... I hope they don't hurt each other." Wendy mumbled,

"Ah man, I'd have cheered Natsu on if I didn't already know how it's gonna turn out." Solana laughed lightly,

"You think they'll lose?" Lily questioned of the redhead.

"Oooh yeah, Moon, Iki and Uno aren't Guild Leaders for nothing." Solana smiled, "It'll still be interesting to watch though."

"I'll come to." Aisha smiled slightly, "And I'll be sure to activate a few wards on the Building just in case."

"Good plan!" Solana smirked,

Corbynn had been silent since coming inside the hall, remaining rooted to the spot with Chase beside him as the energy and mirth seemed to pick up again. It took little for him to piece together who this strange collection of people was, he had heard stories of them from the longtime Members. His eyes slowly moved around the room, chancing to look away from Frea as he searched for that familiar pink hair belonging to the Old Lady. When he couldn't pick her out among the crowd, he moved instead toward the figure of Iki standing near the edge of the room, watching the exchange with his siblings with a small, weary smile.

Corbynn twisted the bit of metal between his fingers, catching Iki's attention as he came near.

"Hey Corr." the tom-cat greeted him softly, sweatdropping a little as his eyes flashed. "Bad Day, huh?" The younger boy sighed,

"Unfortunately." He replied, "Do we have any of that tea left?" Iki nodded,

"Yeah, I've already got it going in the kitchen." He replied, his tail flicking in the direction of said area.

"Good," he sighed, rubbing the back if his neck with a hand. "... I'm gonna need you to get in touch with Saige." Iki's ears twitched at the name,

"Sure thing." the Exceed replied, apparently needing little explanation as to why. "How many this time around? Just one?"

"... Probably oughtta go with two." Corbynn murmured, his eyes trailing back toward Frea. "... I have the material to replace the one that's already chipping. But I think it's probably a good time to bump up to five, and then I'd like to have some, just in case." Iki nodded in understanding, his teal eyes seeing where the young man was looking toward.

"I'll send a note after I finish with the tea." Iki assured,

"... Is Granny around?"

"No, she left not long ago. She said the noise was too annoying." Corbynn frowned slightly, before his eyes moved to try and find Jynx instead.

"Time again?" Jynx appeared before the two of them in a haze of purple, Corbynn blinked, not for the first time wondering how she knew he meant to talk to her. He nodded, his hands moving as he folded them over the ball of metal in his palms. There was a small wave of pressure that appeared on the air for a split second, before he pulled his hands away, the metal now molded neatly into a smooth, polished ring.

He handed the item over to Jynx, who smiled wearily.

"I'll be sure to have it done as soon as I can manage, along with the other two Saige will send." The ghost girl told him,

"Thanks."

"Let's go, Pinky, Popsicle." Uno laughed, hopping off Frea's shoulder as she sprouted wings, moving toward the entrance.

"Ah, you missed Lamia and Pegasus earlier, Frea." Moon commented, Frea's head tilted at that though she didn't glance Moon's way. "Jura wanted a word, when you get the chance." Frea smiled slightly,

"Ahh, alright. Thanks for telling me." She replied, Moon nodded as she followed Uno out the doors, followed closely by several members wanting to watch the fight.

"Silver," Frea's attention turned toward the gruff voice, her eyes moving behind her as Gajeel walked up behind her, red eyes narrowed. He did not move to watch the fight like many of the others did, instead his hand reached forward as he lightly tapped a finger against her back.

"You hurt?" He grumbled, seeing the bandages and what faint stain of red that was visible in a few places. He had smelled it before, though he hadn't said anything until then. He too had found himself shocked at her appearance when she arrived, his eyes tracing that collection of scars that she bore- which was many more than even _he_ had littering his own skin.

"Well prodding at her won't do any damned good if she is." Gajeel blinked, eyebrow quirking at the cold, neutral tone that appeared on his left.

Corbynn had walked toward them unnoticed, his icy blue gaze looking up toward Gajeel and expression steely and neutral, his hands in his pockets.

"... Heh? Who the hell are you?"

"Corbynn." He replied shortly,

"He's a Guild Member." Frea added in, slowly turning to face the pair.

"You're kidding." Gajeel deadpanned. "He's a kid."

"And a kid who could kick your ass." Frea smiled as she replied all too easily. Gajeel blinked, his eyes flashing to Corbynn who simply gave him a flat stare. "But yes, to your question. Though it's nothing bad." She was unaware of or ignored the small frown that Corbynn set on her in that next instant.

"Were there that many, Teach?" Chase asked, approaching the small group.

"No, the only one who landed a hit was Tomaru. The rest weren't a problem." She replied easily, he sweatdropped though, knowing it was not that simple... If it had been, she wouldn't have been in the mess she was now, and certainly what flash of pain that raced from her every few moments wouldn't be there at all, though as always she hid it.

"Who?" Gajeel grumbled,

"Dark Guild Leader." Chase murmured,

"Ex-Dark Guild Leader now." Corbynn mumbled.

Gajeel peered at her quietly, his red eyes narrowed to slits as he found himself biting the inside of his cheek.

"... What's with all the scars, Silver?" He grumbled lowly, Frea blinked.

"Turns out that with Wendy and her Healing Magic gone, you end up with more scars." She replied simply, he grumbled- that hadn't been what he meant and he was sure she knew it too.

He swallowed slightly though, he wasn't sure what it was, but the neutral look on her face, and the easy way she seemed to cast out an answer... It was a little unnerving. And more so it was nothing like that same woman who had accompanied him and Lily to Jogenen.

The explanation of more scars appearing without Wendy's Healing Magic to make the fade away wasn't even that much of an answer- or at least not a full one. While it was very true that for major injuries, without Wendy's Healing Magic- the scars left by serious wounds weren't able to be gotten rid of, and so they stayed. But the smaller ones, the scratches and the thin little nicks across her body, hatching across her skin in every direction and too many times to count- many of these should have faded away just healing by regular means, and yet they hadn't.

Those marks remaining on her skin were partly owed to her own decisions, or lack there of- and a few things that were much too complicated and would take much to much time to explain in full.. and she didn't care to anyway, so she let it be.

"Frea."

Their attention turned toward the voice, Erza having said her name from where she was still at the bar with Gildarts, Master and Mira, the Guild mostly emptied now to watch the fight outside.

Frea's attention turned in her direction, the sound of her footsteps followed by Mira's echoed over the floor, coming closer.

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" Erza asked evenly, Frea smiled slightly, though even to Mira, Erza and Gajeel that smile was a little... Unnerving in its own right.

"Yeah, it takes a bit more than a few scratches to really be a fuss." Frea replied easily, Mira and Erza alike sweatdropped at that, their eyes tracing the scars again though they tried not to. They tried not to think what wounds had left them, or how many she must have suffered through over the years to earn them.

"... I guess you probably have questions." Frea murmured after a moment of silence.

"Yes... But not many. Chase already explained quite a lot." Mira murmured softly,

"Ah." She sighed, her eyes falling closed again. "Good, then I won't have to recant it all."

 _It has been a long... long... Seven years... but it is possible? It feels..._

 _... like Time is moving again, all around me... I'm no longer rooted to the spot... I'm being pulled away by it._


	11. Chapter 11- Blurry Pages

**Chapter 11**  
 **Blurry Pages**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

"WHAT?!"

"No way!"

The attentions of Frea, Erza, Mirajane, Gildarts, Chase, Gajeel, Makarov and Corbyn turned toward the front of the building, a resounding SMACK echoing as a thin, pale blue and white wall of Magic flared across the entrance- halting Natsu in his tracks as he slammed against it instead of being thrown though the entryway.

"Natsu hardly even touched them!"

"Gray too!"

"This is insane!"

"Are we really that far behind?!"

Gajeel bristled, red eyes wide as his jaw dropped. Natsu landed back in the ground, dazed, as the wall of Magic disappeared. He was outside the hall in the next instant,

"You two idiots can't even take on two little cats?!" He snapped, before halting in the doorway, stiffening when he came face to face with Uno- and immediately realized his mistake.

They weren't so little anymore.

Both Uno and Moon had taken their forms of incredibly large and powerful cougars. They were easily as tall as Elfman in his Beast Form, with stripes that glowed a pale blue running through their fur- long, razor sharp claws and teeth, rippling muscles and thrumming with strength. What differed between them were the color of their fur, still remaining that gray for Moon and tan for Uno- for Iki he was his dark brown color in his Etherious Form, though he had elected to stay out of the fighting.

The Exceeds collectively could use other various Spells, such as Telepathy and Aera. Uno was incredibly light on her feet and could use a simple version of Light and Water Magic, that allowed her to refract the light off of water in the air and essentially hide herself from view. Moon could siphon information using Memory Magic, and even knock a few people out with it- though usually she relied on her Etherious Form for that.

And Iki could do little bits of most everything simple in Magic. But for the most part his talent was in a Magic that was particularly rare- Sound Magic. There was little he couldn't hear across a room, and even across a city.

Gajeel was rigid, his mind racing and trying to come up with some reaction to the giant beast that suddenly stood before him, smirking.

"Wanna go, Ironboy?" Uno nearly purred, Gajeel scowled slightly.

"Tch... Gotta show these dumbasses up, don't I?" He growled, Uno smiled.

"Good answer!"

They had started to tussle in an instant, soon out of sight from the front of the Building as Erza, Mira, Gildarts and Masters eyes remained wide, a little taken aback by the form Uno has taken on.

"... Do they all have Take-Over forms?" Mira asked aloud.

"Yes." Iki called over, floating toward the kitchen with a small smile on his face. "We use other Magic too, but yeah. 'Take-Over: Etherious Beasts' is kinda our headline." He disappeared through the doors to the kitchen, throwing a small smile over his shoulder.

Frea was the first to move, her eyes closed as she started toward the bar without a word. Corbynn glanced up at her,

"Oi," he grumbled.

"I'm not going anywhere. And you should go meet everyone else." Frea called back easily, "Seriously kiddo, quit worrying about it. I'm just gonna talk, geez." Corbynn frowned slightly, looking less than convinced but Frea didn't care. She had already circled the bar and taken a seat down near Gildarts, her arms crossing on the countertop.

"Go, enjoy yourself, make friends, quit hovering." She smirked slightly, "No arguments either."

Corbynn huffed slightly, looking a little cross as he silently cursed her in his head.

"I was serious about finding the Old Woman." He replied shortly,

"And we can find her later." Frea replied easily, her voice didn't raise, nor did she sound all that adamant about it- but at least she was being a bit more stubborn than she was earlier. That was a good sign at least...

"Tch... Fine." He growled, turning on his heel in a sudden surge of annoyance. He moved outside the front doors, seething silently but he didn't think she was going to do anything stupid at least... Besides, he did want to see these infamous missing Members for himself.

He promised to keep an eye on her none the less. But for now he figured Chase and Iki would do that for him.

Erza and Mira settled down in the end of the Bar counter, their eyes slowly turning to Frea as Master's and Gildarts did. Chase settled back in his earlier seat, next to Erza now.

Frea heard Corbynn walking away though she didnt look his way, instead she gestured her hand toward the side of the hall, where those he hadn't gone to watch the fight had settled in to their own conversations and the like.

"Now, you- Broody Lightning Boy in the corner." Frea's voice called across the hall, clearly and lowly. Her hand fell, tapping her finger against the bar counter. "Sit your ass down, I have a few questions for you myself."

Mira and Erza blinked, following Frea's hand to see her gesturing toward Laxus, who grumbled slightly as he was called to attention, his arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the wall. He had only just managed to shake off Evergreen, Bixlow and Freed from hovering around him, and it slightly agitated him that commanding tone of voice Frea suddenly used with him.

"Tch... Who the hell do you think you are?" He shot back, though he started moving toward the group anyway. Frea's opened slightly to settle on him, face neutral.

"Not looking to argue, Lightning-For-Brains." Frea grumbled lowly, a vein ticked on his forehead at the name. "You were gonna listen in anyway, so might as well just sit down." She added lowly, though she didn't sound angry about it.

He let out a low breath of slight annoyance, before dropping into a seat a bit away from Makarov.

He had been listening to what conversation had started between Chase, Erza, Mira, Gildarts, Macao, Max and the Old Man beforehand, but he faintly wondered how she immediately guessed he was doing so.

"First off, why in the hell were you on Tenrou in the first place?" She started right off, her cheek resting in her hand as she looked over toward him. "You're still expelled, so why were you there?"

"How'd you even know?" He grumbled,

"Well you've been missing for seven years like everyone else, and you popped up the minute everyone else did." She said rather nonchalantly. "I figured you'd been on Tenrou a long time ago."

"Hmmph... I showed up when Grimoire Heart attacked." Laxus grumbled, Frea blinked.

"Grimoire Heart?" She murmured,

"Yes, they invaded the island, and halted the Exams." Master told her. "The Guild Master before me, Precht, was their leader." Frea's head tilted slightly at the name. "He made it off Tenrou before Acnologia appeared, along with some of his Guild."

"... He's dead." Frea said after a moment, earning shocked looks from everyone else. She let her eyes fall closed, sweatdropping slightly. "Zeref destroyed him... which then means Grimoire Heart are the people who were chasing him down... cryptic ass, he couldn't have just told me plain? But what the hell was he doing on Tenrou in the first place? And he left before it all went to hell..." Her voice dropped as she seemed to fall into her own head, wondering aloud to herself. "... he was trying to outrun Acnologia then... heh, damn even he's afraid of him..."

"Wait a minute, back up." Chase broke in immediately, his blue eyes flashing. "You _talked_ with _Zeref?"_

"... We ran into one another a few months after Mordren." Frea replied lowly, not at all concerned with what had everyone else reeling. "Big, colossal fight for the Balance of the World, and Light over Dark, it's not a surprise he was interested in it. All he did was muse and spout nonsense at me, as well mention Precht," She stopped herself before she said anything more.

 _... and he talked about him too... There was a lot things I had questions for... and Zeref... he was content to tell me..._

"He was here and then he was gone, as far as I can tell he just wanted to meet me, and then he did and left. I take it he tends to disappear and reappear wherever the hell he likes, but nothing happened." Frea grumbled, which was not true, but she didn't let herself think about that.

Her chin pressed into her hand, her eyes narrowed at the table.

 _... But that... It suddenly makes sense... Why it feels like time started moving again... Shit.._

"All he wanted... Was to meet you?" Erza mumbled slowly,

"... You guys haven't been around... You weren't around when I fought with Mordren." Frea replied, though her eyes didn't move up. "... There is an internal balance to things, if Mordren had won there would have been war and plague and famine, the world would have crumbled in on itself and anyone who tried to stop it would have been killed doing so. Zeref does that, he chooses to throw the world into chaos, and he will try to do it eventually... But he was probably interested in me, because I won. Against something, someone- older than he is." She growled under her breath. "... Which by the way, Energy Mages were around before Zeref, but Mordren destroyed them all... A long, long time ago."

 _... So much information and history... Between Mordren and Zeref and the Old Geezer... And him too._

She stiffened, failing to not outwardly react to what flash of pain ran through her head in the next instant.

 _... Damn it._

"... Well, that aside." She sighed slightly. "... That makes more sense as to why Acnologia appeared. He was hunting Zeref." She leaned back a little, her hand falling away from her face. "... So for me that hashes out what happened on Tenrou. I don't have anything else I wanna ask."

"Just like that?" Gildarts mumbled,

"Just like that." Frea murmured, "I don't really want to, nor need to fuss over every little detail. I do understand the gist of it, and that's all I need. You're all back and not dead... And honestly that's good enough for me." She smiled slightly, wearily almost. "The Guild's been really quiet without you lot."

Frea's attention turned from them as Iki landed lightly on the bar top, a mug in his hands as he set it down in front of Frea, his tail flicking her arm lightly. He pushed the cup forward until it barely grazed her fingertips,

"Here ya go." Iki murmured, Frea blinked, her eyes fixing on the cup, her nose immediately filling with the sweet, yet incredibly familiar scent.

Her hands curled around the cup lightly, almost tentatively as she nodded.

"Thanks." She murmured softly, taking a drink and sighing as the mug left her lips. She grimaced a little, earning an amused smile from Iki.

"Still taste it?" He asked, "I dumped like three cups of sugar in to the pot."

"...Mmm... it's not awful, it's better than last time with the added sugar." Frea replied lowly, letting out a small sigh. "... At least I'm not gonna be drinking this for a month again. So I'll deal with it."

"What is it?" Mira murmured, glancing over.

"Tea." Frea replied, earning a deadpan look from the Take-Over Mage. Frea didn't seem to notice the look though, and simply took another drink, a small grimace still pulling at her lips though she didn't voice any disapproval again.

"It's herbal tea with Hellein Flower in it." Iki elaborated, Mira and Master alike blinked. "That's why it tastes so bad, Hellein Flower is really bitter."

"Hellein Flower is used in potions and poisons to limit Magic and disrupt the flow of Magic Energy." Master murmured, his eyebrow quirked at the Exceed. Erza, Gildarts and Laxus blinked in slight surprise at the comment,

"Should you be drinking that, then?" Erza asked immediately.

"Yep." Frea murmured,

"Why?" Mira asked,

"To get rid of my headache, hopefully." Frea replied, though it was still less of answer than anyone else liked. Erza and Mira frowned slightly, their eyes narrowed, Erza glanced to her left toward Chase, who sweatdropped, giving her a shrug an apologetic look.

They noticed it right then, what he meant when he said Frea had changed. It wasn't her Magical Pressure that threw them off, it was the subtleness, the subdued behavior and the non-answers. Frea may never have been the most open person to begin with, but they would have expected her to be grinning all the while the minute she walked inside the Guild. They would have expected her to jump into a brawl with Natsu, she had always used to be so thrilled to do so. When they asked her questions, she may have kept a few things to herself but this was like she wasn't interested in talking at all- let alone explaining anything. She seemed to have fallen in on herself, she seemed... distant, cold even.

Then they were reminded of that dangerous light that come into her eyes when Jynx and Mavis confessed to knowing about the island and Fairy Sphere. It wasn't a look they had seen in Frea before, and it had only been there a few precious seconds... and it made shivers run up their spines.

It was almost... _murderous,_ in a way.

"Frea," Master grumbled, his eyes narrowed at her as he tried and failed to piece together how much she had changed... because surely there was more to her than they noticed thus far. For a moment he wondered if any shred of that girl he brought into the Guild was left, under the scars and the power... and what pain she had suffered while they were all gone.

He never got to ask what question he had prepared, everyone's attentions snapping around toward the sound of furiously flapping wings as a beam of white shot in through the door, before coming to a halt right in front of them, hovering over the counter in front of Frea.

A messenger bird.

"Messages for Miss Frea of the Fairy Tail Guild!" The bird chirped, it's claws clutching to a heavy, folded envelope. Frea glanced upward, her eyes narrowed and sweatdropping, just slightly, as she set the mug down on the counter top.

"From who?" She mumbled half-heartedly.

"Knight Captain Lahar, and Councilman Org, Miss!"

Frea's eyes fell, looking less than thrilled as she held out a hand, the bird dropping the envelope into her hand before zooming out of the Guild without another word.

"Councilman Org?" Erza murmured,

"He's the one who was always berating the Guild, wasn't he?" Mira asked quietly,

"Lahar was at Tenrou before everything went to shit." Gildarts grumbled under his breath. "But what the hell does the Council want with you?" He glanced toward Frea, who's eyes fell to the envelope in her hands as she flipped it over, revealing the branded Magic Council symbol on the front. She drew her finger across the lip, tearing it open with a line of silver that sliced through the paper easily, taking the letters out and opening them slowly, her silver gaze narrowed at the paper for a few short moments, and sweatdropping.

She felt the ache in her head grow all the worse.

 _... Damn it... Why did I even try...?_

She bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes falling closed as she held the letters out toward Iki instead, who blinked, before taking them from her. She leaned against the counter, her hand threading through her hair as she leaned against it, her eyes closed as she sweatdropped a little more, the other hand moving to pinch the bridge of her nose.

The Tenrou Members blinked, eyebrow's quirked at the sudden hand-off of the letters, and the sudden reaction.

"... Lahar is asking you come in at your 'earliest convenience' to do a follow up report on the... heh, 473 Wizards of Death Bolt you turned into the Council a few days ago." Iki read aloud the contents of the letter, his teal eyes skimming the words that Frea hadn't seemed to bother to read.

"Mmm..." Frea hummed lowly, looking weary at the thought. She missed what looks of sheer shock passed across the faces of everyone else at mention of the _number._

 _473?!_

He flipped to the next letter, reading through it quickly.

"Org says he gave the report to the Council Hearing this morning, and that they expect many of the top ranking Wizards captured can give valuable information on other, lower level Dark Guilds. Some of the less involved members will be released in a few years, while most of the others face heavy charges for their various crimes, and likely won't be out for much longer." Iki recanted the letter, "He also made sure that the Guild Leaders, Tomaru, Kane and Cedric will never be released. They'll be in jail for the rest of their lives... since the known crimes they committed are too many to count, and that's not to mention the ones the Council don't know about." Iki folded the letters up and replaced them in the envelope,

"There's also a note about the Council sending the rest of the reward in the next few days." He concluded, Frea sighed a little, her eyes still shut, but her hand fell away from pinching the bridge of her nose.

"... thanks." She mumbled, Iki nodded.

"Yep." The tom-cat replied easily.

"Frea..." Erza murmured, her head tilting. "... are you alright? Why did you pass off the letters without bothering to read them?"

"Hmm?" Frea hummed, cracking open one eye to glance toward the redhead.

"You... said you had a headache?" Mira murmured, her blue eyes glinting.

"Oh... well, reading would imply I can actually see what's on the page." Frea replied quietly, "Of which, at the moment... I really can't. I can't even really see any of you either." She let her chin rest in the opposite hand, her eyes narrowing slightly to try and make anything out... but it was just a mess, fragmented and shapeless. ".. the only reason I know who's who is based off sound and scent."

 _"What?"_ Erza and Mira asked immediately, their eyes flashing.

"You sayin' you can't see a thing?" Laxus grumbled,

"Did you get hit on the head? Do you have a concussion?" Mira asked the questions in sudden rapidity,

"It's not like that. And I didn't get hit over the head or anything." Frea murmured, "I'm not blind, I can see... it's just a mess." She paused, sweatdropping slightly.

"And the reason?" Gildarts asked lowly, Frea paused for a minute,

"... do you recall that Spell I used to use, 'Energy Sense'?" She asked at length.

"The Spell you used to search out and see different forms of Energy at distance." Master replied, everyone else nodded.

"Yeah. With it I could literally see different forms of Energy, their color, their movement.. that sort of thing. If I didn't use it I could still feel Energy, but I couldn't actually see it." Frea murmured, "... over the years, that's changed. My senses have heightened to the point it takes just a little concentration to actually see Energy, no Spell needed. There's Energy in everything, in every person, in Magic, in items sometimes... and there's even Energy that naturally flows off the air and from the ground." She let out a low breath, "I can usually ignore it, but when I was fighting with Mordren... my Magic got out of hand." She seemed to swallow slightly.

"It's like I tore a hole in my own concentration and willpower. If I overextend my Magic, or use too much all at once, the world comes flooding in and the Energy gets overwhelming, to the point I can't ignore it or block it out... and with it, all I see is just... swirling bits of color everywhere. It's fragmented and muddied together, and it takes over everything, leaving me pretty much unable to pick out shapes or see anything but the Energy swirling around everywhere. It's just overwhelming... thus the headache." She pushed her hair back from her face a little, her eyes closing again. "And I overdid it a little when I was fighting a few days ago. It's a pain in the ass... but it usually only lasts a few days, and it's not really something to worry over... so don't sweat it."

She paused, smiling a bit ruefully.

"Not that I could tell any of you were worried at the moment anyway, but just in case." She added in.

"... and that's what the tea's for?" Gildarts murmured, "... trying to dull down your own Magic and senses?"

"You got it."

"... your Magic has grown so strong even you can't control it at all times?" Makarov asked quietly,

"Basically yes." Frea murmured, "... Don't get me wrong, I got stronger year after year and it wasn't a huge problem... but eventually, well... it's like my Magic Power just exploded, all on it's own. I jumped from one level, to several dozen levels above that, all in a really short amount of time- too short a time. I'm good at Control, but it is a bit of a pain sometimes, especially if I don't watch it." She sighed, "Or at least that's what the Old Geezer tells me, and he does tend to know what he's talking about..." Again she seemed to go off an a tangent and a topic they knew nothing about, and then failed to elaborate it.

"... how much stronger have you gotten?" Laxus grumbled, his eyes narrowed at her.

"Well I don't have a chart for you." She replied easily, "... I don't know how to explain it to you without showing you either... and right now I'm not in the mood." She blinked, "Not that I could show you the full extent either, if you're really interested, I'm sure Moon can manage to show you the collective Memory of what happened with Mordren, to get at least an idea."

She smirked his direction, her eyes flashing for a minute. "But you remember we were supposed to have a rematch?" She asked, he blinked, for a minute that competitive flare igniting in her again, before being replaced, just faintly... by something _colder._

"You will lose, if we ever decide to have a go at it, Lightning-Boy. Hard as it is for you to hear, you would not stand a chance against me."


	12. Chapter 12- Forced Or True?

**Chapter 12**  
 **Forced Or True?**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

Corbynn blinked, his eyes landing on the girl that approached him from among the crowd of excited onlookers- he only faintly aware of the sound of Salamander and the Ice Mage getting their asses kicked by Moon and Uno.

He had done as Frea wished, mingling and introducing himself to everyone, learning names, though he still kept glancing back and forth toward the hall despite himself.

The girl coming toward him now smiled softly, her long hair a navy blue color pulled into pigtails, her hazel eyes glinting. She was as tall as he was, and looked just about as old as he did (though maybe that was inaccurate, but it didn't seem any of the Tenrou team had aged at all even in seven years).

He turned her way as he noticed her, blinking slightly as she smiled at him.

"Hello." She smiled, "I don't think we've had the chance to meet, you came in with Frea, didn't you?"

"Hey." He murmured, nodding a little. "Yeah, that was me, name's Corbynn."

"I'm Wendy, it's nice to meet you." The bluenette smiled brightly, he offered a small one back, a break from his usually stoic expression.

"You're the Sky Dragon Slayer, right?" He asked, she blinked, looking a bit flustered he knew.

"O-oh! Yes, I didn't think anyone would mention me." She tapped her fingers together,

"Why not? You're a Dragon Slayer- and powerful one from what Frea and Chase have said." He murmured, Wendy blinked at that, blushing slightly. "Even as young as you are, what I've heard the other long-time Members say is impressive." She blushed a bit more,

"... Oh... I'm not that impressive..." She murmured modestly, he had to keep himself from chuckling, finding her reaction quite amusing. ".. You're a member of the Guild right?" Wendy asked, changing the subject now aw he nodded to her.

"For a few years now." He smiled slightly, she blinked in slight surprise.

"You must have joined up really young then, you're the same age as me... And it's been a long time." Wendy murmured,

"I'm the youngest one in the Guild, technically." He replied, "Though most people around here don't tend to notice age or anything... Hehe, I actually doubt any of the old guys even know how old I am." He added in, with a flick of his head toward Wakaba and Macao. Wendy smiled slightly, looking amused.

"What brought you to the Guild?" Wendy asked, Corbynn blinked.

".. same reason Solana and Aisha joined, Moon, Iki and Uno too." He replied, she tilted her head a little. "... we joined 'cause Frea and Chase were working to disband a... An allied group of three Major Dark Guilds, called the Flash Beast Triad." Wendy's eyes widened, looking a little wary. "We each had our own reasons for wanting them gone, I think everyone in Fiore does... but we've stuck with the Guild for more than just the Triad." Corbynn smiled, just faintly as Wendy did too, though she thought she saw something like sadness make its way into him for a small moment.

"And you?" He asked, snapping Wendy's thoughts away from that as she smiled in return.

"Ah, my old Guild kind of... disbanded, I guess. Carla and I didn't have anywhere to go, and we had been working with Natsu and the others beforehand, so they invited us to join." Wendy replied brightly, though there was a small flash of sadness in her heart at the thought of it- she didn't let it show though. Corbynn nodded slightly, tucking his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Sorry they disbanded." He murmured lightly, Wendy blinked, nodding a little.

"Thanks." She smiled, "... if you don't mind my asking, but... you're a Mage, right?" She murmured,

"Yep." He smiled lightly, "Be a little hard to be in a Wizards Guild if I wasn't a Wizard, hehe~" Wendy blushed slightly, looking flustered.

"A-ah, right..." She smiled weakly, Corbynn shook his head slightly.

"I'm just teasing, Wendy." He assured lightly, "You're asking what sort of Magic I use, right?" Wendy smiled sheepishly, nodding a little.

"Yeah. If you want to tell me, anyway." She replied, Corbynn shrugged slightly.

"Don't see why not." He smirked slightly, "I use Force Magic."

"I've never heard of that."

"Mmmm, well its not all that common of a Magic as far as I know." He replied easily, "Force Magic involves creating and manipulating kinetic energy and force. I can manipulate air pressure and force, to send it out at people and break things. It's not... Well, you can't really _see_ my Magic, but it's pretty flexible, and useful." He shrugged slightly, "It's less enthusing to watch compared to your Magic probably." He chuckled lightly.

"Oh no, that sounds amazing!" Wendy beamed, Corbynn blinked, smiling slightly at the reaction. "You must be a great Mage with that sort of Magic!"

"I do alright." Crobynn shrugged, "Honestly I only got this far with my sister teaching me Magic in the first place. And Frea's help training since then." Wendy's eyes gleamed slightly, looking surprised.

"Frea's Training you..?!" She breathed, he nodded.

"Yep."

"That... that's amazing!" Wendy breathed, "I mean, Frea's so strong, she must be a great Teacher! You're probably learning so much from her!"

"She does well enough." Corbynn sighed, sweatdropping slightly. "She's got her good days... someday's not so much. But she does her best, and I'm not incompetent, so I guess it's working." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "To be honest in the category of 'teaching' Chase would probably be the better pick, he's more... ah, easy to get along with."

Wendy chuckled, looking amused as he blinked. "Sorry, I... I think I know what you mean. Frea can be a bit stubborn, from what I remember." Wendy explained,

"Oooh, yeah." He smirked,

"... hmm, so you and Frea are close?" Wendy asked softly, he blinked, sweatdropping slightly. Wendy's head tilted slightly at the reaction, blinking curiously.

"... yeah, I guess we kinda are." He mumbled, biting the inside of his cheek in slight nervousness. His eyes dropped a moment,

He'd never really thought about it, in all honesty... because she'd been there. All the time, without end since the day he had met her. They'd never been apart from one another a week or two, she was always there, always watching, always listening and always... annoyingly sometimes, how often she was around and hovering, but it was- it was maybe a little comforting, though maybe he never thought about it.

But the idea of a world without that stony, stubborn, annoying Energy Dragon Slayer was not a pleasant one. He wasn't sure where he would be had she not showed up in that underground prison, had she not set him and Chess free, had she not strung them along to join this Guild and to fight against the Triad... had she not been there, after Chess had...

He swallowed slightly, an ache flaring up in his heart without warning though it wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

Stony and stubborn and hard to get along with, yes. She was annoying at times and had a way of being overbearing and even a little insensitive, as well as unnerving when her anger got out of hand.

... but that Energy Dragon Slayer was incredibly kind and caring and loyal under what face she had put up. That stony and off-handed and cold exterior that he knew most people flinched backward at, was a face and a wall she had set up for one reason only, _forced_ to set up between herself and everyone else- and he didn't blame her for it. But in all reality she wasn't so different, not deep down... she just wasn't willing to let anyone see it.

But he knew, he'd seen it. Felt it. And he wasn't sure where he'd be without that, or that part of her.

"... she's the only family I've got left, actually." He murmured softly, "... so yeah, we're pretty close." He smiled, just barely as Wendy blinked at him, the question and the surprise flashing across her face.

He clapped his hands together lightly in front of him, smiling brightly as Wendy jumped slightly.

"Now, how about we see what the rest of you guys are like?" Corbynn smiled, "And maybe we can see that famed Sky Dragon Slaying Magic I've heard so much about, yeah?" Wendy looked slightly stunned, blinking once or twice and completely unsure where that sudden slightly somber look had gone, to be replaced with such a calm, bright smile from the boy. Or why it seemed he changed the subject so quickly, especially when it had sounded like-

Wendy stiffened slightly, sweatdropping a little as she felt her heart flutter.

 _"... she's the only family I've got left, actually."_

 _He... he hadn't actually mentioned that his sister was still... in the Guild..._

 _Oh n-no... does that mean she's...?_

Wendy swallowed, forcing herself to think of something else and nodded stiffly toward him, her smile a little strained but she did her best. If he wanted to leave it alone she wasn't going to press, she had no right to.

"Yeah, I'm sure everyone else would love to get to know you!" Wendy smiled brightly, "Carla too!" She blinked, glancing away and around the crowd at the sudden realization she hadn't seen her Exceed Partner in awhile. "Oh, where did she go...?"

Corbynn chuckled under his breath, his eyes trailing from Wendy toward the surrounding people.

".. mmmm.. is that her over there with Moon?" He asked lightly, stepping up beside the bluenette as her gestured toward said she-cat chatting away with another Exceed of pure white. Wendy blinked, nodding with a small smile.

"Yes." She replied, "They look like they're having a good time!"

"Must be, if she managed to pull Moon away from brawling." Corbynn replied, Wendy blinked.

"Oh that's right... is... are Natsu, Gray and Gajeel still fighting..?" She leaned his way absentmindedly, trying to peer around the people in front of her and bumping into his shoulder. Wendy jumped, pulling back instantly and blushing furiously, "S-sorry! I wasn't trying to run into you!" She apologized quickly,

"No worries." He replied easily,

 _She is super shy and nervous, huh? Hehe~ There's been no one in the Guild like that, it's refreshing._

He tilted his head in the Exceed's direction, smiling still.

"Let's go chat with them a little, huh?"

"Sure!"

 **.:+:.**

"Come OOOOONNN!"

"Mmmm... you're persistent as ever, ain't ya, Flame-Brain?" Frea hummed quietly, her cheek in her hand and eyes closed- utterly and entirely unbothered by how close Natsu was leaning in nor how persistently he was (complaining) asking her to fight with him. Her finger trailed lightly around the edge of the the mug set atop the table before her, the hall loud and filled with people and laughing, arguing and conversation and buzzing more brightly than it ever had even before the Tenrou Team had disappeared.

Natsu had slammed his hands down on the table top hard enough to make her drink, and everyone else's sitting around her to jump- though Frea's finger on to top kept it from moving too much.

"Why are you avoiding me, huh?!" He smirked, "A little brawl never hurt anyone!" Frea's lips twitched upward at the edge for a split second. "Come on! You used to love fighting with me! It'll be fun!"

"As amusing as it sounds, Natsu." Frea smirked, tapping him lightly on the forehead. "I really don't think it's a good idea, I'm not even supposed to using serious Magic right now, let alone using it on you." Her eyes opened, her gaze resting on him and smirking still, oblivious the the look of question running along everyone's faces at the words. "But since I know you ain't gonna let it go, fine. I'll let you try and come at me, maybe knocking you around a bit will get all the energy out- and we focus on other things." Frea stood up easily, her hand falling away from Natsu as she scooped her cup up, her head tilting back as she emptied in one long take.

She sighed, smiling still as she glanced backward, her eyes landing on Iki. "I'm gonna need something a bit stronger than tea, I think." Iki smiled slightly, nodding with a sigh.

"Ah, if you say so..." He mumbled, snapping his fingers as the cup left her hand and fell in his. Frea smirked to herself, tilting her head in Natsu's direction, who looked absolutely and utterly thrilled at finally getting his wish.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Corbynn's voice broke the clamor inside the hall, looking stony and serious as he placed himself right in front of Frea, who blinked.

"Giving Salamander is wish, weren't you listening?" She replied easily,

"You aren't supposed to be using Magic, let alone getting in fights." He snapped back coldly.

"Relax kiddo, I'm not gonna overdo it, promise." Frea smirked, Corbynn growled lowly, a vein ticking on his forehead as he shot her a dirty look, and then Natsu in turn.

"Why don't _I_ just knock him through a few trees instead?" He grumbled lowly, Natsu blinked,

"You can try!" He smiled,

"Cause that wouldn't prove anything," Frea murmured, she and Corbynn alike ignoring the pinkette. "Flame-Brain's never seen you in action, he's got nothing to try and prove against you. He want's a fight with me cause he wants to see how strong I've gotten- isn't that right, Natsu?" Natsu smirked,

"Hell yeah!" Frea tilted her head in the pinkette's direction with a coy smile, though her eyes remained fixed on the ever scowling Corbynn.

"You are a stubborn ass." Corbynn growled,

"Yeah, but you love that about me." Frea smirked, her hand rubbing the top of his head and messing up his hair. Corbynn smacked her hand away lightly, looking immensely disgruntled, Frea hardly seemed to mind the reaction though.

"Well, if Flame-Brain's gonna have a go with you, I might as well." Gray smiled, looking excited as Frea tilted her head in his direction.

"Ah, you might wanna... _not_... do that." Chase mumbled, stepping up beside the Ice Mage with a small, nervous smile. Gray quirked an eyebrow, "Ah.. maybe just let Natsu have a shot before jumping in head first, ok?"

"When we're done, what do you say to a few rounds of drinks?" Frea smiled, oblivious to Gray and Chase's comments.

"I'm in!" Cana grinned, followed by several other murmurs of approval and raised glasses.

"Same here~!" Solana smiled, hooking her arm around Aisha who sighed,

"... I think Natsu's the one who's gonna need a few drinks.." Aisha mumbled quietly, Solana chuckled under her breath.

"Oh he's gonna be sore."

"Great, let's get started, eh Flame-Brain?" Frea smiled, her finger twirling in air before her as silver spiraled around Natsu, a wave of pressure igniting on the air and making it feel hard to breathe with even just the simple spell. "Anybody else wanting to join is welcome to, otherwise- do your best, Natsu."

Natsu blinked,glancing around quickly and sweatdropping to find that he and Frea were outside the Building, standing in the grassy clearing in the front with the night sky overhead filled with stars and a waning moon. Frea stood across from him, looking to have not a care in the world and her arms crossed over her chest, silver eyes glinting in dim as the Guild filtered outside of the building.

"Huh?" He breathed, "Woah! When did you learn to do that, Frea?!"

"'Bout a year or two ago." Frea replied lightly, chuckling under her breath. "Don't be so easily impressed Flame-Brain, that ain't nothing compared to all the other stuff I've picked up."

"And just what has our dear Frea picked up?" Gildarts asked lowly from where he was standing beside Master Makarov, the both of them having moved to stand in the doorway and watching the ensuing brawl as the rest of the Guild had- all the more interested and tense as Frea seemed willing to finally jump in. Master blinked, nodding stiffly at Gildarts' words though he didn't glance upward toward the other man.

"All right! Now I'm all Fired Up!" He smirked, slamming a flaming fist into his palm. Frea nodded slightly, her eyes falling closed.

"Were you going all out with Iki and Moon before?" She asked easily, Natsu blinked. "You're gonna wanna throw your best at me Natsu, if you even wanna make a dent." She let out a low breath, her eyes glinting dangerously in a challenge for a moment. "You got one minute, throw your best shot at me, Fire-Boy."

"One minute it is." Uno smiled, waving her paw in front of her as the numbers appeared in air made of gold light. She snapped her fingers and the numbers of '1:00' started counting down. Iki and Moon beside her chuckled slightly.

"Hehe, you want my best Frea?!" He smiled, "You got it! Let's see you contend with me and my all new, Lightning-Flame Dragon Mode!"

There was a collective murmur that rose among the people watching, eyes wide and jaws dropping as Natsu's figure became engulfed in brilliant orange, electricity sparking off the flame and mingling a gold and orange that blazed spectacularly with the blue and indigo of the night around them.

"W-Woah! What is that?!"

"Lightning and Fire all at once?!"

"Where'd he learn that?!"

Frea blinked slowly, her silver gaze flashing with orange and gold alike as her expression remained utterly emotionless, the air dancing and sparking, swirling with so much color and so much Energy all at once- and he was a burning beacon among all the muddied, incessant color.

Her head tilted to the left slightly, her eyes dropping to the ground and not moving even an inch- nor hardly paying attention as Natsu jumped forward.

 _... how interesting... this is your Magic, Lightning-Boy... and you let Natsu have some of it, hmm...?_

She let out a small breath, her eyes closing.

 _... it's a wonder you didn't poison him, letting him eat that much of your Magic..._

"Lightning Flame Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Natsu swung down, Magic full blast and grinning all the while as he launched himself at Frea, his fist rushing forward toward her as she remained still and unmovable. Natsu grinned,

"Hehe~! Got you now, Frea!"

Natsu's fists swung forward, only to meet empty air.

The Tenrou Team went deathly still, eyes wide and jaws dropping, the breath catching in their throat and sweatdropping, eyes snapping back and forth as they rushed to try and make sense of the fact that..

"She... I didn't even see her move?!"

"W-What the..!?"

Natsu stiffened, his eyes snapping sideways as he landed on his feet, trying to regain his bearings again.

Frea was right behind him, smiling slightly with her arms crossed over her chest, not seeming to have moved a muscle even though she seemed to have teleported from being in front of him to directly behind him.

"30 seconds, Natsu." Frea murmured, smiling slightly still as he whirled around toward her.

Natsu's fists clenched on either side of him, one erupting in blazing electricity and the other in flame as his Magic potency increased tenfold in seconds.

"Crimson Lotus;" Natsu growled, his Magic whipping back the grass and sending tumults of wind rushing out in every which way to batter the onlookers and the side of the building.

"Holy crap, he's goin' all out!" Gray growled under his breath, recognizing the same level of power Natsu had erected to battle with Hades.

"What an idiot, he's gonna tear everything up at this rate." Lucy grumbled,

"O-oh! I hope he doesn't hurt her with all that Magic!" Wendy stammered under her breath,

"He won't." Corbynn's low, slightly flinty answer beside Wendy had her head snapping around toward him- along with several other Tenrou Members nearby. Neither Wendy nor anyone else managed his icy blue eyes though, his attention was fixed on the fight and nothing else, his expression unreadable.

"Exploding Lightning Blade!"

The crowd covered their eyes and squinted against the sudden glare, riveted to their spots and breathless at what sheer power Natsu was throwing forward all at once- even Seven Years behind it was still a level of power most people hadn't seen from him before.

Frea moved this time, or at least- in a way people and Natsu could catch sight of her action. She lift her hands, her fists catching his in her palms and entirely unperturbed by the fire and the lightning dancing all around them. Natsu's movement stalled in seconds, his Magic in her hands disappearing the minute they made contact. The flames shifted, spinning up around her and twirling as if it was her own Magic and not his-lightning danced in and out of the fire and circled her arms as closely as snakes would, not harming her in the slightest and only seeming to increase what stifling Magical Pressure was flowing off of her in waves.

"W-what... my Magic...?!" He stammered breathlessly,

"Good try, Natsu." Frea smiled, though something about it was... unsettling. "Minute's up though."

Frea spun tightly on one foot, her hands holding tightly to his and she whipped around, tossing him clear across the area hard enough to send him knocking through a line of trees on the opposite end, her Magic flashing silver, gold and red-a few more trees falling with a heavy thud and cut straight through in a sheer, sharp gust of wind.

"Holy... freaking..."

There was a collective shocked murmur that passed among the onlookers, disbelief and shock sparking off the Tenrou Team as a whole.

That fight was over in a minute. _One single minute._

Master remained rigid, his eyes narrowed to slits and gaze resting on Frea intently, his mind whirling and thoughts attempting to click together what show of Magic he had just seen- what little of it, and what change it signified in that girl he was starting to recognize less and less the more he saw of her.

Frea came to a half-halt, her eyes resting on the line of destruction on the trees and the slumped form of Natsu at the end, knocked senseless entirely. Her hands fell on her hips, sighing to herself as she shook her head slightly.

"...Hmm... Interesting but not quite close." She murmured to herself, her hand moving from her hip to twirl her finger in air, silver spiraling around her hand and shining dimly in the dark where Natsu was- before the pinkette appeared before her feet, Frea bent to one knee and lightly tapped his shoulder, a spark of silver and gold shining from her touch for but a second.

Natsu jumped, sitting up and sitting cross legged with a slightly dazed look, his eyes landing back on Frea who had yet to stand back up again. Her arms crossed over her knee, smiling ever so faintly at him as he blinked.

"Get rid of all that energy, Natsu?" She asked quietly. He sweatdropped a little, his eyes narrowing at her and looking uneasy and tense.

"... what happened to you, Frea?" He murmured lowly, earning a blink from her. "... you're... crazy strong... you're different... you aren't... _you_." Frea's smile faded for a minute, her eyes flashing as he kept his eyes on her. "... you're nothing like how I remember you, at all."

"... things change." Frea replied quietly, "I already told you, I'm not the same as when you left. You have to remember it has been seven years. That's a long time, and alot's happened." He grimaced slightly, looking unsure at the answer.

Natsu stiffened, his eyes widening slightly as Frea's smile returned, bright and carefree and he shivered at it- because it looked almost _fake._ Forced, even.

"Come on Pinky, let's go have some drinks, huh?"

 **.:+:.**

"How many has she had?" Solana chuckled lightly, her emerald gaze flicking toward the steely, stony faced Corbynn beside her, his eyes never leaving that Energy Dragon Slayer and still seething that she had jumped in to fight Natsu in the first place. Solana's wrist flicked in said Dragon Slayer's direction, Frea smiling toothily as she tipped her head back, downing another drink and letting out a long sigh of sheer relief.

"... That makes 11." Corbynn growled lowly, his eyes watching Frea set the cup down on the table and another appear before her at the behest of Iki snapping his fingers from the bar.

Solana blinked, sweatdropping slightly in surprise, before she sighed. "Ah... she's grown a higher tolerance for alcohol this last year, but 11 ale's is a bit much... hehe..."

"... first she runs off on her own, then she starts a fight, and now she's drinking..." Corbynn grumbled under his breath, tone flinty and face pulled into that of a scowl. "... all while Overdoing it to the point she had to ask me if the people who showed up here were bloody _real._.."

 _"... Laerre dei heinn?"_

His fingers holding his arms tightened a little, that scowl growing just a bit deeper. Solana blinked, her green gaze settled on him quietly for a few long moments. Her eyes traced along the taught, rigid line that his shoulders made, the way his fingers gripped together and his person grew more tense by the minute as he fell into his own head and thoughts- those icy eyes ever locked to Frea still smiling and drinking away.

"... you're worried." Solana murmured softly, Corbynn stiffened at the words, his eyes snapping toward her and looking nervous as she tilted her head at him. "... I noticed the bandages before, but it's the smell of the blood that's been more noticeable." Her head flicked in Frea's direction, Corbynn sweatdropped. "... she's hurt pretty good, yeah?"

"... yes." He grumbled, "... not that she'd admit it, but she got hit pretty hard." Solana nodded slightly,

"... so she really did overdo it, huh?" Solana murmured quietly, "... guess I'm not surprised." Corbynn grumbled under his breath, jaw clenching at the words- because honestly? He wasn't surprised at what she'd done either.

"Hehe~!" Frea chuckled, her silver gaze flashing around the table and the collection of people crowded about her. "Since there won't be anymore brawling, how about some stories, eh?"

"Hell yeah." Gray smirked, leaning in. "I bet you've been in a bunch of trouble, huh?"

"OOooh, you've got no idea, Popsicle." Frea smirked, she set her cup down on the table, her elbows resting on the surface as she linked her fingers together. There was a faint, yet noticeable dust of a drunken blush across her cheeks, though her words weren't swirling to indicate just how much the drinking was hitting her.

"Where to start!" She smirked, "Hmmm... first year then! Ever heard of the Demon of Zeref; Amlod?" This earned blinks of surprise and question from many of the Tenrou Members sitting around her- Erza and Levy perked at the name however.

"I read reports from the Magic Council about that!" Levy piped in, her eyes gleaming. "It was a Demon of Zeref that used Nullification Magic, and had moved into the cliffs and forest near where Cait Shelter used to be, isn't it?"

"D-Demon...?" Wendy stammered,

"I heard of this Demon as well, before we left for the Exams." Erza added quietly, "I had heard tale that the Magic Council attempted to destroy it using Etherion." This caused heads to turn and eyes to widen. "And it failed to make a dent against Amlod's Nullification Magic."

"Etherion didn't do anything?!"

"W-Wha?!"

"You're kidding!"

"Right you are!" Frea smiled, nodding to both Levy and Erza. "And guess who defeated it all on her lonesome?" She grinned toothily, her fangs flashing in the smile as her head tilted, oblivious (or maybe unable to see) what incredulous and shocked looks passed along those listening in.

"... wait... you don't...?" Gray mumbled,

"... yer kiddin', right Silver...?" Gajeel stammered,

"... you?!" Natsu and several others stammered nearly breathlessly.

"You got it!" Frea grinned, jaw's dropped all around and strangled gasps sounded, though Frea hardly paused. Her fingers unhooked from around her cup as she twirled her fingers on both hands in air, silver springing up as small figures of a human and some... creature, materialized out of her Magic, glinting brightly in the hall, and a wave of pressure falling over everyone inside, making the air heavy.

"Hehe, it was super hard. I had to perfect a whole new skill on the spot just to combat with it!" She smiled, her fingers moving as the figures began to move across the table, depicting the fight as people glanced feverishly between them and Frea. "Nullification Magic is super tricky, I had to come up with a way to even just _use_ Magic against it~"

"It's called Absolute Magic Control," People all around blinked at the name, the silver figures on the table now locked in an intense battle, Frea laughed lightly under her breath. "Course, when I defeated Amlod, I overdid it a little. It made quite the show, the Council was none too happy about how many people in the country saw it too~"

There was a sudden wash of light that poured down over the two figures like a fountain from the sky, engulfing the figures entirely, until only the human figure was left.

"They labeled it a 'Magic Anomaly', so the citizens in the country wouldn't freak out or anything." Frea went on easily, snapping her fingers as the figure disappeared in a whirl, before being replaced by a whole slew of different figures. "And after that, next on the list is our first battle with Phoenix Tear, and getting started with the Flash Beast Triad!"

Frea went on, recounting the battles and the highlights of the fights she deigned to recount (of course, barring those that ended badly, or brought on things she didn't wish to touch). All the while she flicked her fingers, her Magic recounting battles and grinning all the while- and drinking more too. The Tenrou Team around her listened and watched in stunned, shocked statures, shocked words and arguments thrown out at the tales, hands slamming down on the table and disbelief thrown about- Frea never seemed bothered. She was too high on the alcohol to really care, she told all the good parts, the exciting bits, the adventure- all while carefully skipping over everything else. Everything hard, every heartbreak, every wound, every hurt... she knew exactly what she was saying and telling, and was careful only to recount the bare minimum.

The stories went on late into the night, the drinking too, and the rabble and noise. For the first time in a long time that solemn, silent figure of that shabby building on the hill was filled with laughter and shouting and conversation and mirth it had never seen before.

And even with the drinking, and the extended use of her Magic, and her utter disregard for her health, or how far she was stretching it... Corbynn kept an eye on her, and saw what he hadn't in a very long time too. He kept an eye on her even as Wendy settled in beside him, and conversation sprouted between the both of them with ease, chatting away on all manner of things even as the night drew on.

For the first time in too long a time, some small, faint semblance of that once cheerful and bright Frea shown through... she was happy, _genuinely_ happy, and it was because those people had come back.

So even annoyed, and agitated... she was happy, and he couldn't be angry with her for that.

* * *

 **Enjoy everyone~!**

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	13. Chapter 13- Wandering Thoughts

******* Just to make it clear, the Girl is named Chess. (Short for Chesilene, pronounced 'Chess-Ah-lean' ) Making it clear since some people are confusing her with Frea's student; Chase****

 ** **Chess is Corbynn's older sister.****

* * *

 **Chapter 13**  
 **Wandering Thoughts**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

 **.:+:.**

 _The sun cast out behind the pair as they made their way along the empty road, their shadows stretched across the path in front of them as they slowly headed home. Frea let out a breath, her eyes casting sideways to glance at the woman walking along beside her, her copper colored hair shining in the light of the dying sun. They had been walking along in perfectly content silence, both of them a little tired from the days events. Which, as per the usual with the two of them, involved a handful of small jobs that the Guild had been sent. Of course none of them paid very well, none of the highpaying jobs got sent to the Guild since Tenrou... but they had to do as many as they could, just to scrape by with the money they managed to earn._

 _The jobs weren't all that hard either, at least not for them. It was just the amount they had to take all at once that was tiring, and by the time they were done they had been on one job to the next from dawn till sunset now. They hadn't time to take a breath between moving from one location to the other, and now they had to make the trek all the way back to Magnolia._

 _Of course maybe, even with the absurd amount of jobs all at once- this was a more pleasant alternative to war with Triad. It felt good to take some time off the Dark Guilds... Of course they would be back to it in no time. There was no give for rest, not anymore._

 _Frea blinked, her eyes landing on the wrapping of bandages on her companions arm. There was a constant wave of pain flowing from her that rammed into Frea, a sort of throbbing feeling though Chess didn't give any outward indication of pain. Frea shook her head a little, sweatdropping slightly as she let out a sigh._

 _"How's the arm?" She asked, smirking slightly when she received an icy blue glare in return, and a small huff._

 _"No." She replied shortly, Frea chuckled._

 _"Ah, come on. You don't have to be so stubborn about it." She replied lightly, "You know well enough I can tell it's bothering you, why do you have to be so stubborn about it?" Frea murmured, Chess looked away, a small frown pulling at her face as a vein ticked on her forehead out of agitation. "I could heal that in a few moments, it's not really all that hard."_

 _"No." Chess growled again, her eyes closing as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I know well enough what 'healing' means with your Magic. I'm not gonna let you waste your own Life-Energy on some small little wound, idiot."_

 _"Geez you're stubborn." Frea sighed slightly,_

 _"You've clearly never met me." Chess replied quickly, Frea's eyes flicked to the ground a moment, before she smiled slightly and stopped, her hand moving out to catch Chess lightly on the wrist and stop her in her tracks. Chess stiffened slightly at the sudden action, her icy blue eyes moving toward Frea in confusion as she saw the small smile on the Energy Dragon Slayer's lips._

 _"What...?" Chess asked slowly, Frea puller her closer. Chess sweatdropped, immediately thinking Frea was going to go ahead with the 'Heaven's Light' Spell regardless of what she wanted. Frea smirked slightly as she felt Chess's Magic Energy begin to flare to the surface, her hand moving quickly to hold Chess's face lightly in her hands. She'd have to work quickly before Chess managed to throw her a hundred yards, "Hey! Don't you even dare try and heal me!" Chess snapped,_

 _"If you won't let me heal you, this will have to do to make you feel a bit better." Frea said easily, her silver eyes glinting as a small blush made it's way onto her cheeks. Chess went rigid, her eyes wide and heart skipping a beat as Frea leaned in, and their lips touched ever so softly, a wash of warmth and pleasure running through the copper-haired woman in an instant, Frea felt the waves of pain coming from her cease, and quickly be replaced with the same tingle of pleasure that she felt rise in her own heart._

 _Chess relaxed after a moment or two, her body losing it's tenseness as she gave in to the sudden and unexpected gesture, her hands moving to gently hold to the bottom of Frea's shirt, and for a few moments that seemed to last forever, her mind went blank and the throbbing in her arm ceased. Frea smirked inwardly when she felt Chess lean into the kiss._

 _She hadn't been planning on a kiss, on any other day the thought of it would have sent her stammering and blushing furiously. She's never really been one for shows of affection, or anything romantic in anyway... but when she considered it, for the first time she realized the only person who came to mind for that end was this stubborn, hot-headed, unbearably kind woman who's Magic was just as strong as her own. And in that moment, she didn't feel overly nervous, or flustered- she felt bold and she felt... happy._

 _I should have done this a lot sooner._

 **.:+:.**

Frea's eyes fluttered open to dim darkness, her silver eyes narrowed as she rolled over in the bed, her head resting in the crook of her arm as she bit the inside of her cheek- feeling the tears already flowing the minute the memory and the dream snapped away. Her hand moved across the sheets, rubbing at her eyes as she tried her best to still them.

 _Damn it_

* * *

 **Very, very short- but enjoy none-the-less~!**

 **Slain Among Ice and Fire should be next up for an update~**

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	14. Chapter 14- Scars

***** Just to make it clear, Corbynn's older sister is named Chess. (Short for Chesilene, pronounced 'Chess-Ah-lean' )**

 **Making it clear since some people are confusing her with Frea's student; Chase**

 **They are two separate OC's (one girl- Chess, and one boy- Chase), I hope that clears things up.**

 **.:+:.**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Scars**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

"Stupid girl overdid it again, didn't she?" Porlyusica grumbled lowly, her eyes flashing as she stepped inside the door without a thought or a care to if she had permission- Corbynn had already stepped aside to allow her entrance, and didn't say anything about it.

"Of course she did." He grumbled nearly as hotly as the old woman, anger and annoyance still high from the activities of the night before- what with Frea brawling (if even for only one minute) with Natsu, then getting drunk off her ass enough to warrant her detailing all her exciting fights and using her Magic all the while to give a rough visual of the events. (An incredibly _stupid_ way to keep using her Magic too, by the way) "That's all she's good at." He paused, his annoyance dulling down a bit upon noticing the Old Lady wasn't alone as he blinked, Wendy smiling softly at him with Carla in tow.

"... Uh, hey you two." He murmured,

"Hey." Wendy smiled,

"Sorry to drop in unannounced." Carla murmured,

"Granny mentioned she was on her way over to treat Frea," Wendy murmured, her eyes glinting. "Is she alright? I didn't even know she was hurt yesterday.."

"... Oh, yeah." Corbynn mumbled, his hand running along the back of his neck as he sweatdropped slightly. Seeing both Wendy and Carla now had what agitation towards Frea dulling down. "... I mean, she's not dangerously hurt or anything, else I wouldn't have let her hang around the Guild so long yesterday. I just wanted her checked out in case her wounds got infected or something like that." He sighed slightly, "It's probably nothing to worry about, but she overdid it with her Magic so she's more likely to end up getting sick right now. I'm just trying to be careful... Since I know she won't bother getting herself looked after." Wendy blinked, looking more questioning now than she did before as he sighed slightly.

"... Sorry, that wasn't a good explanation." He mumbled,

".. No, it's fine... But ah, what do you mean she 'overdid it' with her Magic?" Wendy asked slowly,

"And why would that make her more likely to grow ill?" Carla asked, Corbynn blinked, sweatdropping still as he looked away.

"Uh... How about you just come in and take a seat. I'll explain it... Just give me a minute, OK?" He mumbled, Wendy and Carla blinked, before nodding slightly and stepping inside. As soon as they were passed the doorway he turned his back on them, seeing Porlyusica set her bag and supplies down on the bar that stretched out of the kitchen and into the living area slightly.

Corbynn snapped his fingers, hearing the front door close shut but he didn't turn to it.

"I'll get her out of bed, Granny." Corbynn called to the pink-haired old woman, who huffed as her only response.

He moved off toward the hallway that lead from the living room, casting a small glance backward to see Carla and Wendy had taken stiff seats on the couch, looking around curiously. He glanced back ahead as he lift his hand in direction of the door at the end of the hallway, his eyes falling closed as he flicked his fingers at the air in that direction.

The door shot open, the inside dim and dark compared to the rest of the fairly bright house. There was a small sigh that sounded from the inside, he grumbled under his breath.

"Granny's here to take a look at you." He announced rather sharply, stopping in the open doorway with his arms crossed about his chest, peering inside the dim.

Frea was already moving toward the door, her bare feet moving across the cold hardwood, her silver eyes glinting only slightly in the dim the pulled curtains had created, to which light was desperately trying to make it through. Her hair was pulled back into a small ponytail (small as what the short strands would allow), dressed in simple black pajama shorts and a loose shirt that tied around her neck and back, short so it left her stomach in full view (though the bandages still hid it). On the front of the shirt were plastered white letters that made up the word 'FORCE', and as ever the her rings on her fingers remained.

"It's already noon, you know." He said lowly, Frea blinked, looking a little dazed for a split second as if she had just woke up- and maybe she had, he hadn't a clue.

"... Mm? Really?" She hummed lightly, rubbing the back of her neck as she slowed to a halt in front of him, blinking at what bright light the hallway brought with it. "... Why'd you let me sleep so long?"

"Hmph, you clearly needed it. What with the drinking and knocking Pinky around." He grumbled, stepping back as he made to move back down the hallway. Frea's hand fell from her neck, letting out a small sigh.

"... Yeah but now I'm freaking hungry." She said lowly, he shook his head slightly. "... You said Porlyusica's here?" She asked softly,

"Yes, and you're keeping her waiting." Corbynn replied briskly,

"... Fine... Fine..." Frea sighed, yawning partway through as she followed along behind him down the hallway, looking less than thrilled with the idea of the Old Woman snapping at her- which, with how sore she felt and what sharp sting of pain flared across her back at moving- she was sure to be receiving a lecture.

Wendy and Carla looked up expectantly as Corbynn and Frea came into view, what small smiles they had intended to throw Frea's way instantly turned to looks of shock.

Their eyes didn't find the bandages, at least not at first.

They had seen what array of scars that crossed her arms yesterday as the rest of the Tenrou Team had, along with those that stretched along her cheek- but they weren't prepared for how many more there were littering her skin that they hadn't been able to see before.

The top of her shoulders were broken across by the lines, her legs were too, all the way up and down her skin was stricken across by thin and short, long and deep scars of pale white and pink, there was a very large gash that had left a mark about the size of Wendy's fist that carved into Frea's right thigh, a blow that seemed to have gone all the way through the leg- Wendy was shocked she could even walk, considering what wound would have been needed to leave a mark like that.

"Hey, Granny." Frea murmured quietly, moving toward the Old Woman without a glance toward Wendy or Carla, as if she hadn't even noticed them. "... Thanks for coming up here, I suppose..."

"Sit down, you stupid girl." Porlyusica ordered sharply, Frea sweatdropped but did as she was asked, taking a seat down on a stool in front of the old woman, her back to the room as she faced the bar top. Corbynn drew up beside the couch where Wendy and Carla were watching in sheer silence, fumbling for even words as they watched Porlyusica untie Frea's shirt around her back, leaving it hanging around her neck as she moved to unwind the bandages, to which they could see blood seeping through.

There were several angry red marks running across the Energy Dragon Slayers back, bleeding and swollen in a few places- one of them deep enough to graze the muscle. But even the wounds weren't what seemed to take Carla and Wendy's breath away, because even the skin on Frea's back was etched in by even more scars, dozens, as if she had been whipped... And there was a large scar in the center of her lower back that had their hearts dropping a little.

"O-oh... My... Frea...!" Wendy stammered at last, her eyes glinting as she straightened up.

"W-What on earth happened to you?" Carla asked quickly,

Frea stiffened slightly, glancing over her shoulder at the voices as her nose twitched. She sweatdropped a little,

"... Oh, Wendy... Carla..." She murmured, catching the two scents she hadn't until that moment. "... Sorry, I didn't realize you guys were there-"

"Turn back around." Porlyusica ordered, Frea sweatdropped a little more, before turning away again. Corbynn saw what annoyance flashed across the Old Woman's face, and what worry worked its way in there when Frea admitted to not having been aware Wendy and Carla were around.

She had overdone it... By a lot.

"... Sorry." Frea mumbled under her breath. "As for what happened- I got hit when I was fighting a couple hundred Wizards or so the other day. It's really nothing to worry about."

Carla was floating in the air, and Wendy had gotten to her feet as well, both of them looking stricken as Corbynn glanced sideways toward the two of them.

"... A... A couple hundred Wizards...?" Wendy stammered under her breath,

"That's not what I meant." Carla corrected instantly, her eyes narrowed. "I was talking about the scars! You didn't have any of those when we left, and I've never seen so many on one person, what on earth could you have gotten yourself into to have so many?"

Frea sighed slightly, stifling a wince as Porlyusica set to work,

 _... Everyone from Tenrou is so interested in them... I don't even notice, and neither has anyone else in the Guild before now... so why do they care so much about it?_

"Its been seven years." Frea answered lightly.

"But what happened...?" Wendy asked quietly, she looked torn between staying where she was and rushing forward to help Porlyusica. ".. E... Even with all the fighting you were talking about last night, I could never imagine you having gotten hurt enough to leave so many..."

".. Hmm... A lot did happen." Frea answered, rather offhandedly.

"... Alright, so I guess this is kinda a shock to you guys..." Corbynn murmured, interjecting when he saw annoyance pass over Carla's expression at the rather non-answer. "... I mean you all looked pretty freaked out when we walked in yesterday, but I guess seeing all of them is a bit much." Wendy and Carla looked toward him. He gave them a small, slightly nervous smile.

He understood the reaction he supposed, but Frea had always had scars since he knew her, and she always got new ones... It had ceased to catch him off guard, and honestly when he looked at her- he didn't even really _see_ the scars, they were too familiar.

He thought maybe the rest of the Tenrou Team had seen Frea with scars too- but clearly not. Which meant that all of them, they were all very, very new- and there were (admittedly) a lot of them.

"They didn't all happen all at once, so don't freak out too much." He assured quickly. He cast Frea a small, weary glance before looking back to Wendy and Carla. "... What she was trying to say was this; it has been seven years since you last saw one another, and we've been busy fighting a lot of Dark Guilds and other things in the process. She talked about a lot of the fights last night, but there was also a lot more she didn't even get into... That many fights over such a long period of time is bound to leave scars. I get it can be... Shocking, but its not so bad." He paused a minute, wondering if he should mention the fact that the larger, more serious wounds would have left scars regardless of anything done- but that explanation had to admit that it had been a lack of anyone with Healing Magic that had allowed the serious wounds to stay, and that might not go well over with the Sky Dragon Slayer.

And even apart from that, he well knew that wasn't the only reason so many wounds had left marks over the years... and for a moment he figured maybe Frea wouldn't want him to go into it.

The biggest reason for so many of them? That was owed to the fact that Frea had literally just... just stopped _caring_ about whether or not any injury left a lasting mark. When she'd been hurt, even slightly, she never took care of the wounds like she should have, her lack of effort into that had let even the smallest nicks leave a lasting mark. He knew well she didn't dwell on wounds and he hated that about her, and had snapped at her several times too- often dragging her back to Porlyusica or treating her wounds himself when she refused to, but with how often Frea had been gone from the Guild there were many times he never got to force her to take care of injuries and she never bothered to treat the wounds herself as well as she should have.

The rest of it... well, Frea just didn't heal as well as she should. That fact was owed to her Magic, and as annoying as it was (and how much it worried him), there was nothing to be done- some of the wounds would remain scars even if Wendy had been around, and would still be scars regardless how much care had been put into cleaning them, by normal or other Magical means.

But he figured it might be better to let Frea explain that much to everyone else... of course knowing her she might never do so, but he wasn't looking to annoy her by blurting it out first. For now he'd give her a chance to explain it all if she wanted to, and later if she never did- then he'd give it a go. But not just then.

"... ah... well, you remember I said she's more likely to get sick when she overdoes it with her Magic?" Corbynn mumbled, slowly, uncertainly as Carla and Wendy blinked at him.

"... my Magic gets out of hand sometimes and starts tearing my body up, if I am not careful." Frea's sudden calm, short interjection into the conversation had not only Carla and Wendy reeling, but Corbynn too. "With how much Magic Power I've grown over the years, it's sometimes too much to handle all at once and I can't control it all the way- it gets wild and can hurt me. Even with it settled to a level that is manageable, the damage so much Magic Energy has done to me over the years has left my immune system rather shaky, and my healing by normal standards somewhat limited. If I use my Magic too much at once and it gets out of hand, the backlash can be pretty bad, and if I'm wounded it can get infected easier than most people because my immunity's been mucked up. It also takes longer to heal in most cases, and it's hard to heal properly too. That's why a lot of the hits have left scars, by the way." Frea seemed to shrug slightly, though with Porlyusica still working away she hardly dared move too much. "But honestly it's nothing to get worked up over, there's nothing anyone cane do about it- and I handle it fine."

Frea smiled slightly, though no one could see it- and probably better for it. The smile was nothing if not rueful and pained,

"... as it stands, even without all that there were plenty of hits that would've left scars anyway. Mordren certainly saw to most of that." Frea mumbled, biting the inside of her cheek as her eyes fell.

 _... their lips touched ever so softly, she could feel her body shaking, her breaths coming in nothing but strangled gasps... her hands holding for dear life to her body so limp and heavy in her grasp. The warmth of the blood on her hands was becoming quickly as cold as she was-_

Frea stiffened, her body growing stiff and her nails digging into the underside of the stool. She shut her eyes tight, hating herself for letting her mind wander that way, and hating the sheer pain that ignited in her core because of it.

 _... Mordren left plenty of marks... but the deepest scar doesn't show up on my skin... this one was left by what Tomaru did to..._

Porlyusica paused, her red eyes narrowed and glinting as she felt Frea grow rigid under her hands, a frown pulling at her lips as she sighed internally.

There was a few long minutes of dead silence in the house next, silence that weighed so heavy it was like a fog. Corbynn's icy blue gaze remained utterly fixed to Frea, jaw dropped slightly and reeling at that fact that she had explained _anything at all_ \- and let alone that slew of information all at once. It was like she'd just given up and decided to dump the most simple, yet long-winded explanation on their heads and didn't care what reaction she got out of it.

But _shit!_

She actually talked about it?! He was so used to her just... just _not! Not explaining anything!_

His eyes snapped sideways when he heard Wendy take in a sharp, nearly inaudible gasp, his eyes glittering slightly to see her hands had moved up to cover her mouth, trembling faintly and looking almost... horrified. Carla's ears had fallen flat, her tail dropping to hit the floor and looking almost as horrified as Wendy, but not quite.

Corbynn felt his heart drop though, he recognized that look in both of them so suddenly, and he knew exactly what they were thinking;

 _"How could we have missed... so much...? Enough that Frea... has been hurt... this badly...?"_

Damn it, she wasn't gentle with the explanation- and was in no way delicate either. And he was sure she hadn't any real clue what spilling all of that bad and worrisome information all at once was gonna end up doing.

He almost wished she'd just kept her mouth shut, and let him explain it instead.

Porlyusica's hands worked to tie off the last of the bandages she had wrapped around Frea's back again, her work done and over quickly while everyone else had been so focused on what Frea was saying- and what tense silence had followed. Frea never moved, she didn't seem to hardly be paying attention and the Old Lady wouldn't doubt it if the Energy Dragon Slayer had become wrapped up in her own mind- if happened frequently, but like Corbynn, Porlyusica wished Frea had been gentler about her explanations. She had to stop herself from smacking her hand across the back of the blonde's head, or from snapping at her either.

Porlyusica took a step back from Frea, bundling her supplies up on the counter. Corbynn's eyes moved from glaring at Frea's back, back toward Wendy, his jaw dropping and his heart with it.

"Wendy.." He mumbled, faltering slightly as he took a few tentative steps in her direction, eyes glistening as she saw the stream of tears spill down her cheeks silently, her hands shaking as they covered her mouth still, shoulders hunched and eyes fixed to Frea, who still had her back to the rest of the room.

Carla glanced back, her eyes finding Wendy too as pain flashed across her face, her tail drooping as she saw the tears start to fall.

"I... I'm... s...sorry..." Wendy gasped quietly, her eyes shutting as her shoulders hunched. "... I... I didn't... k-know... how much y-you've all b... been through... w-while we were... gone...! S-so much bad... has hap... happened... we... we s-should never... h..have missed... any of.. t-that...!" Her legs started shaking in tune with how much her breathing was hitching. ".. w-we... we should... have b...been here... we s-should.. h...ave... h...h-helped...!"

Corybnn flinched, his hand pulling into fists at his sides and he sweatdropped, his throat tightening.

"I...I-I'm so s-sorry..!" Wendy gasped,

Frea bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes closed and sweatdropping slightly as her fingernails dug into the underside of the stool some more, her ears ringing painfully at the sound of Wendy's voice shaking so badly, and her head pounding as guilt and sadness and pain so potent managed to break through the haze on nonsensical information and ram into her like a train.

 _Shit_

Carla moved slightly, patting Wendy's leg gently as a gesture of reassurance while Corbynn inched closer, uncertain whether or not he should say something- or even what he could manage to do to try and settle the suddenly shaken and crying bluenette.

"... I think that's my line."

Wendy stiffened, Carla and Corbynn doing the same as Frea's voice sounded suddenly- and so softly too. Their eyes moved up, blinking in shock to see Frea had stood up from her seat, turning toward them and one hand rubbing the back of her neck slightly, her expression gentle as she cast them a look that was near apologetic. She moved forward softly, stopping in front of Wendy and leaning over, her hands on her knees and her head tilted slightly, those silver eyes gleaming as Wendy glanced up at her with those tear-filled eyes.

".. I should be the one to say sorry." Frea murmured softly, tenderness and care igniting in the Dragon Slayer where stony neutrality and off-handedness had ruled for oh so long. "... that was indelicate of me. I should have been kinder about explaining that to you... and I'm sorry that I wasn't. But you really don't need to feel so sad, Wendy."

Frea smiled a little, a calm, gentle smile as her hand lift to rest lightly atop Wendy's head. Wendy's eyes flashed, the tears halting as she simply looked to Frea in utter stillness.

"You've done nothing wrong. And I really am fine." Frea assured quietly, "In fact, you've helped a lot already without even knowing it." Wendy blinked at that, but Frea's smile only grew softer.

"Having all of you guys back is the best thing that's happened in a really long time. Having all of you around and alive means more to me than you realize, and having you around helps me feel better to." Wendy's eyes shone slightly at that,

"So please don't be so sad, alright? You're doing a lot by just being back, the rest of it just falls into place after that." Frea smiled a little wider, a little brighter and more cheerfully too.

Corbynn swallowed, his eyes shining at that smile that was so entirely and utterly _real._

Porlyusica shook her head slightly, casting a glance toward the mall group as she gathered her supplies up in her hands, waiting patiently to the side and letting out a silent breath.

 _What a foolish girl..._

"Come on." Frea murmured brightly, her hand rubbing the top of Wendy's head in a gesture that was nearly playful. "How about you two stick around and have something to eat, yeah? Corbynn's a really good cook ya know." She straightened up again, her hand leaving Wendy's head as they looked to her in shock at how quickly she seemed to move to try and lighten the mood again. "You're welcome to stay too, Granny." Frea called to the Old Lady, who scowled and huffed.

"I have better things to do." The growled, turning her back on the group and heading for the front door. "I needn't remind you not to go gallivanting off and stirring trouble, do I?" She grumbled, Frea shook her head slightly.

"I got it, Granny. Thanks for checking in."

"... foolish humans." Porlyusica grumbled under her breath hotly, before she was out the door and gone.

"So, what do ya say about food?" Frea asked lightly, her attention turning to Wendy and Carla, who looked a little stunned.

"... we... we'd love to." Wendy murmured after a minute, sniffing slightly as she rubbed the tears away from her eyes, offering up a small smile to Frea who nodded.

"We'd be rude to refuse." Carla murmured lightly,

"... you know we don't have any food in this house, right?" Corbynn deadpanned, his shock and surprise fading as his thoughts managed to catch up with the change of direction in the conversation- his eyes moving toward Frea after having been staring at the door in which Porlyusica left, his mind whirling and emotions with it. He wasn't sure how it could be possible... but Frea, something changed about her then, some semblance of the person she used to be shown through and it had him reeling... but it also made him a little happy to.

Frea blinked at that, eyebrow quirking as he sighed in exasperation.

"You have been gone for months, the kitchen is empty." He elaborated, Frea seemed to falter a minute, her eyes falling closed as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"... hmmmmmmmmmm, well." She mumbled, "Guess we're going shopping then!" She nodded toward the three of them as she started down the hallway she had appeared from, "I'll put some clothes on and we can go together. Give me a minute, kay?" The three of Corbynn, Wendy and Carla watched her go in silence,

"... but... if she's injured, should she really be running around town?" Carla grumbled, Corbynn deflated slightly, his shoulders sagging as he sighed heavily.

"... I really hope she wants food more than she wants to sidetrack and pay a visit to Twilight Ogre.." He mumbled under his breath, careful to say it quietly enough he knew Frea wouldn't hear him say anything with those Dragon Ears of hers.

"... is something wrong...?" Wendy asked slwoly, he shook his head slightly.

"... no." He mumbled, his arms crossing over his chest as he gave her and Carla a small smile. "To be honest with you, it's really been a long time since I've seen her so relaxed and content." They blinked at the words, "I'm glad you two came by, her mood's seemed to lighten considerably." They nodded slightly,

"Since we're going shopping, any requests on what you wanna eat?" He asked, they blinked. "I'll cook whatever you want, just ask."

"... do you cook all the meals?" Wendy asked,

"Yep."

"Frea does none of it?" Carla asked,

"Pretty much," He replied, smirking slightly. "She's a great fighter and all, but she sucks at cooking." He chuckled,

Carla looked disbelieving, while Wendy laughed a little under her breath. "She can't be that bad." Wendy chuckled,

"Trust me, you don't wanna eat anything she makes, you'll end up poisoned!" He replied lightly, Wendy laughed some more at that while Carla huffed a little.

.:+:.

Frea glanced sideways toward where she had shut her bedroom door behind her, her ears training toward the sound of Wendy and Corbynn laughing in the house that hadn't heard that sound in such a long time.

 _... they get along well, Chess._

She smiled slightly,

 _... Having the Tenrou Team back seems to be making him happier too._

* * *

 **Hello guys! Thanks for reading!**

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	15. Chapter 15- Why Not?

**Chapter 15**  
 **Why Not?**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

"Not happening!" Corbynn snapped lowly, his hand clamping down on Frea's wrist and tugging hard to sidetrack her movement in the opposite direction she had turned. Frea blinked in slight surprise, her feet easily shifting as she followed him a few paces, before halting altogether.

"Excuse me?" She grumbled, Wendy and Carla near them blinking in surprise and question, their arms filled up with groceries. They have been shopping for the better part of an hour and it had been utterly content between them for the whole of it, enjoyable even- but that smile and cheery demeanor Corbynn had been wearing suddenly wore off out of nowhere.

He shot Frea and annoyed glare, "Don't even try, I know where you were planning on going, idiot."

"... Kid..." Frea started, looking near as annoyed as he did for a split second.

"Nope! No Twilight Ogre, leave it alone!" He growled, Frea hissed under her breath.

"I wasn't-"

"No!" He cut her off again, Frea grumbled under her breath,

"... Are you going to let me finish?" Frea huffed, Corbynn glared.

"And what were you planning on doing?" He asked shortly, Frea let out a breath of agitation.

"... I was gonna grab this idiot," Frea snapped hotly, her hand reaching out over Corbynn's head as her hand latched on to something- there was a startled yelp somewhere between a hiss and a meow. Wendy and Carla jumped, sweatdropping as the air wavered where Frea hand grabbed it- a spray of water hitting the ground at Frea's feet as she pulled a now visible Uno toward her by the back of the she-cat's shirt and out of the air.

"She can turn invisible..?!" Carla and Wendy stammered,

Corbynn blinked, his head tilting up at the nervous looking Exceed in clear surprise and question.

"Ah... Hey... Frea..." Uno stammered, smiling with a wave of her paw at the Energy Dragon Slayer- who still looked entirely unamused. Her silver glare turned from the she-cat and toward Corbynn in clear annoyance, still holding Uno aloft but uncaring as she bared her fangs down at the younger Mage.

"Try not to jump to conclusions on everything, yeah? I'm more focused on food than I am on dealing with those Twilight Bastards, you don't have to scold me like a child!" Frea snapped, Corbynn grimaced, sweatdropping slightly but entirely calm under a glare from the Energy Dragon Slayer that had Wendy, Carla and Uno shivering. "And next time let me finish what I'm saying!"

Those furious silver eyes snapped right toward Uno, who jumped, looking ready to try and struggle free of Frea's grasp and avoid her wrath- only she was trapped and she knew it.

"And _you_ don't need to spy on me either, Uno!" Frea snapped, "I already know Master Makarov is handling Twilight, I can feel him there with Mirajane and Erza- I'm not gonna rush off and skip breakfast to bud in where I don't need to! Those three are plenty capable on their own of knocking sense into Twilight Ogre, and that is more than fine with me! So you and Moon can bud out on the _watching_ me!" Uno deflated a little, chuckling nervously.

"...ah... Right... I guess...?" Uno stammered, having trouble coming up with a response as Frea let out an angry breath. "... Sorry...? But... You already knew they were going there...?"

"They're at Twilight's Guild Hall now." Frea replied curtly, "Energy Signatures, Uno. Don't forget."

"... Right... Sorry..."

"... So you weren't going toward Twilight." Corbynn mumbled, sweatdropping slightly.

"No." Frea growled, "I am hungry, I want food and I'm not wasting time on something that's already being taken care of." Corbynn sweatdropped a little more, his eyes narrowing a little.

... He wasn't sure he could imagine a world where Frea would stay away from kicking Twilight Ogre's ass for any reason at all, least of all for food. Once she set her mind on going somewhere or doing something, there was little that could stop her... And certainly never for something that involved the Guild, or people that pissed her off as royally as Twilight Ogre did.

But then again... Frea was acting a little different, he noticed that already. Especially so this morning, with Wendy and Carla... And yesterday, with the rest of the returned Guild Members.

He wasn't sure he got it though... Or even if it was a good thing... He _wanted_ the small changes to be a good thing.

"... Sorry." He mumbled, "... I shouldn't have assumed..."

"Damn right!" Frea growled, letting go of Uno finally who sighed in relief. She stuck her hands on her hips, shaking her head before her hand dropped down on his and she roughly steered him in front of her and toward where Wendy and Carla were waiting by uncertainly.

"... Come on, we got the ingredients. Let's get home so you can cook me something good, yeah?" She murmured, smirking slightly as all annoyance and anger disappeared without a trace. "Everybody else too, we got breakfast to get back to."

He couldn't turn his head her way because she was still directing him forward, but he blinked.

 _... Is she really that worried about food?_

His eyes snapped toward Wendy and Carla as he was pushed forward closet to them, they seemed a little lost and confused but they smiled none the less.

 _... No... Is she trying not to freak them out...? Because she feels bad about worrying them earlier...?_

Frea's hand left his head again and he spared a glance back toward her- though Frea had turned toward Uno instead.

"Did I hear breakfast?" Uno smiled, Frea blinked.

"You can come, but you gotta quit spying on me." Frea grumbled, Uno chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll try... You know Moon's the one who asks me to, huh?" Uno smirked, Frea sighed.

"Moon's always got her paws in everyone's business, you just do the footwork."

"How harsh!"

"It's the truth."

"Hehe... I can't really deny that."

Corbynn sighed silently, his icy blue gaze glittering as she stepped up toward Wendy.

"I can carry some of that." He offered easily, Wendy smiled.

"Ah, thank you..." She murmured softly, he nodded.

"You got it." He smiled slightly,

 _... She's being usually happy... And it's not fake either... It's like that person she used to be... Is coming back, little by little..._

His lips dared to twitch at the corners in a small, soft smile for half a second as he held the bags of groceries closer to him.

He couldn't remember the last time he had had a meal with the Energy Dragon Slayer and other people- and it be so warm and cheerful... And genuine. Not since long before the Triad, and long before Chess.

 **.:+:.**

"You look broody today."

Gildarts glanced up in surprise at the sudden voice, his attention leaving the water he had been staring at and moving to find probably one of the last people he'd expect to find... and the one he recognized the least since coming back from the island.

She made her way lightly along the low wall bordering the canal, her movement at ease as she stepped from the wall and onto the small bridge that spanned the canal- and the same one in which Gildarts was previously standing alone on, staring into the water passing by under him. The light of the dying sun overhead shone brightly off the rings on her index and middle finger as she waved a hand at him, smiling slightly as her silver gaze glittered.

".. Frea.." He murmured quietly, hardly moving as she came to a halt in front of him.

Her day had been spent with Wendy, Carla, Corbynn and Uno. Breakfast had come and gone in ease an they went back to walking about Magnolia, visiting places that hadn't been around when the Tenrou Team had left and catching up... And it had been nice.

Frea had become less talkative and she surely didn't spend time just doing nothing or productive. She had been too busy for too long to do that, and this was the first time in years she had time to do something so mundane. And honestly?

It was odd, and foreign a thing to her now... But familiar too, in a way. Something like nostalgia, it felt nice, but it also ached and she had no clue why.

She'd left Corbynn and Uno to walk Wendy and Carla home, slipping away for a little after a busy day to take a walk- she'd assured Corbynn she just wanted some air, while that was somewhat true- the real reason she'd stepped away was because of one thing- one feeling she felt incessantly on the air, and she knew who it was coming from, regardless of the distance between herself and him.

She cocked a hip, her arms crossing about her chest as she tilted her head at him and the somewhat dazed reaction- he hadn't been expecting her, no, but his mind was clearly elsewhere, she could feel it.

"... broody..?" He echoed, quirking an eyebrow.

"I can feel your tenseness all the way from my house." She replied, "You're unusually serious today, and uneasy... it's not all that much like you, ya know." He blinked at the response, looking a little unsure of just how she could 'feel' his emotions from such a distance.. but honestly, he wasn't sure of what she could do anymore. He could never shake the heavy feeling on the air whenever she got closer, pressure, power... more than he could imagine in a girl he had hardly known since she'd been brought to the Guild all that time ago.

He'd never been close to her, he was hardly around as it was- but even then they knew little of one another. He'd been aware that Frea was strong in her own right even when she was younger, and he'd known she was likely one of the stronger Wizards in the Guild... but even he had a hard time wrapping his head around how utterly different she seemed now.

A chilling thought, but what little he had seen and felt of her Magic had him believing she was likely even stronger than he was.

Frea tilted her head slightly, "You good?" She asked, he sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck in exasperation,

"... yeah, sorry..." He mumbled,

"Hmm, distracted?" She asked,

"... yeah, pretty much." He hummed, "... not everyday you're told you're being chosen as the next Guild Master of Fairy Tail, and..." He trailed off, stopping himself from saying anything further and missing the sheer blank and expressionless look Frea had settled on him even after the news.

Gildarts' eyes fell to the water as she watched him silently, her silver gaze flashing as she shook her head slightly, smirking the slightest little bit.

"You're not going to do it, are you?" She asked, he blinked, glancing up at her and the small smirk, before smiling himself- if a little sheepishly.

"Heh, how'd you know?"

She shrugged, "I know you enough to know you'd go insane sitting around running a Guild. 'Master' isn't really you're style."

"I suppose you're right." He replied, Frea chuckled.

"Of course I am, I know people a lot better than they think I do." She replied easily, he smirked slightly. "Who are you appointing as Guild Master once you resign?" Gildarts shrugged slightly,

"Maybe you." He replied lightly, she blinked.

"... very funny.." She mumbled,

"And why not? Seems to me you've been taking care of the Guild for seven years just like any Master would." He replied, Frea sweatdropped slightly. He waved a hand toward hers, his eyes lingering on the rings with a sly smirk her way. "You certainly fit the bill for Power, not many Wizards have a need to use those- not even me."

Frea smiled slightly, sweatdropping a little.

"... so you noticed." She sighed, "... Makarov hasn't even pieced it together yet."

"He's still trying to hold on to the idea that you haven't changed so much in Seven Years." Gildarts replied, "He wants to think you're still some semblance of the person that got left behind, and he can't wrap his head around just how much you have changed yet."

"... and you can?" Frea asked slowly, though for a split second Gildarts swore he saw something like sadness appear across her face at the words. He shrugged slightly,

"For some of it, I understand." Gildarts replied, "I wouldn't say I know you well enough to piece together how your demeanor's altered, but the change in Power is hard to miss. You're certainly not the same tough little kid that showed up... you're on a level higher than me, or Makarov now... and I get it."

"Power doesn't make me Master material." Frea murmured softly, "... I care about the Guild, but I'm not the right sort of person to go around leading it.. trust me." His head tilted slightly, though he didn't question it further. Frea sighed, her eyes glittering, "... so, seriously now Gildarts. If you plan on resigning outright, I assume you'll give the position back to Makarov?"

"Of course." He answered and she nodded, that's what she figured his answer would be. "And I'll be gone before morning comes around... hehe, I suppose I ought to start writing a letter."

"Your first and last order as Guild Master." Frea smirked, "He's not gonna be happy you're bailing right out, ya know."

"Probably not, but he won't be able to stop me." Gildarts chuckled, Frea blinked, her eyes trailing away from him and toward the water for a moment.

"... Authority of a Guild Master, for as little as you plan on having it..." she mumbled half to herself, before smirking slightly as her eyes fell closed. "Hehe... You might as well lift Laxus' expulsion before you give the title back up."

Gildarts' eyes widened a little in clear surprise, his eyes snapping from the water and back toward her instantly at the all too shocking suggestion.

"Huh?" He hummed, Frea smiled, casting him a small glance from the side- though she gave no further reply. Gildarts blinked a few times, smiling slightly, though he still looked a little taken aback. "... You're serious? Not that I disagree to the idea... But I do recall you two being quite the rivals. Why would _you_ ask to let him back in?"

"Cause _why not?"_ Was the entirely simple answer she hummed. Gildarts settled her with a look that made her sigh a bit.

"... Seriously, he did show up on Tenrou to help even without being a technical member, yeah? Even on top of that, he's not been his usual bratty self. It seems to me he learned his lesson, he realized his mistake even _before_ Master kicked him out- and at that point he only expelled him out of pride." She smiled, her tone even and calm and entirely unperturbed as she said any of it.

"I really don't see a reason to keep him out anymore, do you?" She asked lightly, he blinked. Gildarts simply held her in his gaze for a long while, his eyes narrowing slightly at just how steady she remained about it- she wasn't bothered, she wasn't tense or uneasy about it- she was just so calm and he didn't know if he understood it.

"... Heh... You _have_ changed, haven't you?" He smiled, chuckling quietly. ".. Where did all that hatred and annoyance go when it comes to Laxus, huh?"

Frea sighed, though she smiled regardless.

"... Honestly?" She hummed, her eyes falling on the water again.

"... I don't even remember why I disliked him so much any more..."

 **.:+:.**

"You what?"

Frea blinked, her hand falling and her drink with it as she shot a sideways glance at the Old Man sitting cross-legged on the counter beside her.

She had come to the Guild Hall expecting a whole mass of people, and she had arrived at the Guild Hall with Corbynn in tow- though he had been whisked away quickly by Wendy, who was by now becoming fast friends with him. She was only faintly aware of them somewhere outside with Lucy, Happy, Natsu and Romeo. The Guild was fairly empty though as she sat in it at the bar, having taken a seat and a drink- it seemed everyone else had gone off to see what had changed and Solana, Chase, Aisha and the Exceeds- as well as near everyone else beside the afore mentioned, had gone too.

Familiar feeling, it so empty- and yet it never felt so different.

Master Makarov had taken a seat beside her at the bar and seemed content to silence and his own drink for no more a minute or two- Frea figured he sat down to talk and wasn't surprised when he did, but the inquiry was a surprise.

Because the Old Man said nothing about Gildarts, and him being appointed Guild Master. She'd talked with Gildarts the night prior, and though she knew by now Gildarts was long gone- she'd expected him to be the first thing mentioned, and yet-

"I was told by Macao and Wakaba about the new festival that started when we left." The Old Man replied evenly.

".. The Grand Magic Games." She murmured slowly, he nodded. She narrowed her eyes at the Old Man and the pointed, controlled way he said the words and kept from glancing at her- almost offhandedly, yet clearly there was something more.

"I was thinking of maybe involving the Guild. What little they explained to me of the subject, I thought it would be a good way to reestablish Fairy Tail and its reputation- and the prize money would certainly be appreciated. It seems a good opportunity, and I was hoping perhaps you could assist." Frea blinked.

"... You want me to explain how the Games work?" She asked lowly, her eyes trailing away and landing on the coffee mug twined in between her hands.

"I was more hoping you would agree to participate." He replied evenly.

 _And there it is..._

"... Yeah, sorry. But that's gonna be a _no_." Frea mumbled, Master blinked in clear surprise at the near immediate, and utterly final answer. He blinked, glancing her way carefully and a little surprised at the near immediate refusal.

"... May I ask why?" He replied evenly, Frea let out a sigh, her cheek falling onto her hand as she trailed a finger around the lip of her coffee mug. Master's eyes watched the movement, his attention lingering on the rings for only half a second.

"... Three reasons, mostly. The first being I don't like the attention." She replied, "Second being I do try avoiding painful situations where I can, and using Magic in that Arena is not pleasant-"

"Meaning?" Master asked immediately.

"You recall I mentioned Energy Mage's lives are more heavily connected to their Magic Energy than other Wizards?" She asked, he nodded. "And that if my Magic Energy gets stolen all at once the shock could kill me?"

"... Yes...?"

"... Hmm... I'm not sure what it is exactly, but there is some device embedded in the Arena that siphons off Magic Energy from the people fighting there. It's not enough that anyone will notice it- but being an Energy Mage and how sensitive I am to it, I can feel my Magic get stripped away when I use it on the grounds and its not a pleasant feeling. I do my best to avoid using as much Magic as I can while I'm there." Frea explained lightly, earning a blink of shock from the Old Man. "... And no, I have no clue why Magic is being siphoned off either... I haven't had time to look into it, being so busy. You'd probably need to ask Jellal more about it, I'm fairly sure he's been looking into it for awhile now."

"... Jellal...?" Master asked slowly, his expression tensing a little at a name well known and not particularly liked.

"Yeah, you're not a fan, I know." Frea mumbled, "He's not so bad, he's made his own Independent Guild dedicated to knocking down Dark Guilds and things involving Zeref... He's helpful, when he needs to be- if a little hard to get to talk to you." She smirked slightly to herself, "... Though I'm sure people say the same about me nowadays..."

"... How did you come to ask him for help?" Master asked slowly,

"Moon's in contact with him a lot, he helped us contend with some of Phoenix Tear's activity at one point." Frea replied easily, shrugging slightly. "I've heard little about what he and his friends have found out about the Arena in Crocus, but they've been looking into it for awhile now- if you wanted to get a hold of him, you'd best talk to Moon." Master nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing in thought as she glanced down into his mug for awhile.

Frea hardly seemed to care as she took a small sip from her coffee mug, before letting it rest on the table again.

"... and the third reason?" Master asked, Frea grimaced slightly.

"... despite not _wanting_ to use Magic in the Arena... I don't have much choice at times..." Frea grumbled lowly, her eyes falling closed as she seemed to bite the inside of her cheek. "... for the last five years I've been enlisted by the Council to set up and hold defenses around the Arena." Master blinked, "... I'm in charge of making sure the viewers of the Games don't get hit by runaway Magic or flying debris, whatever... and to make sure excess Magic doesn't spill over and do any real damage."

Frea sighed, her finger trailing along the edge of the cup again.

"... there's usually not much to do, considering most of the Spells stay pretty contained all on their own... but I have a feeling this year is gonna bring a lot of work for me..." Frea mumbled, "... especially if you want the Guild to join... and with Jura planning to participate too..." She trailed off, her eyes narrowing to slits and her silver gaze flashing with some strange light for a split second.

"...mm... and there is that too... things moving again..." She mumbled under her breath, near too low for him to hear and low enough he figured she hadn't meant him to.

Frea shook her head, seeming to cast the thoughts off as she gave him a weary look. "So... I'm gonna have my hands full, sorry to disappoint." He sighed,

"... given how strong you seem to have grown, having you play would make victory that much more assured." He grumbled,

"... maybe, but where's the fun in that?" Frea said softly, smiling slightly as he glanced to her from the corner of his eye. "... you still have a chance you know, you wouldn't need me... or any of my Team, for that matter. With everyone you brought back with you, you can win... even if it doesn't seem that way right now."

She tapped her finger lightly against the rim,

"... so much potential hidden deep down in the lot of you... Power you have and haven't reached yet... drive too... heh..." She tapped her finger against the edge a few more times.

"... I'm actually looking forward to the Games for the first time... how weird." She smirked, shaking her head at herself. "So, even without actually participating in the Games- I can help you out with the rules and things. I had to learn every page in the damned rule book, heh..." She twirled her finger in the air as a spiral of silver flared, before there was a small flash of light and a heavy bound book fell on top of the table with a thud.

Master sweatdropped, looking taken aback by the sheer amount of pages in the thing.

"You're help will be very much appreciated." Mavis' voice sounded as the ghost girl appeared, sitting on the edge of the counter beside Makarov and smiling warmly toward the Energy Dragon Slayer. "Do you think we'd garner the help of your Team should we ask?"

Frea shrugged, smiling slightly. "I don't know, Chase, Aisha and Solana weren't huge fans to start with- and I have no clue on Corbynn. You'd have to check with them." Mavis nodded in understanding,

"Very well- now, to start with the rules."

She completely forgot to hand off the letters that were tucked away in her back pocket.

 **.:+:.**

"Oi. Broody Lightning-Boy."

Her eyes remained fixed on his back as he slowed to a halt ahead of her, his hands in his pockets and Magic Headphones on. She could hear the music from where she was, though he clearly heard her around it.

He pulled the headphones down to hang around his neck as he turned her way, eyebrow quirking.

"Frea..." He grumbled, "... What do you want?"

"To bring you to the Guild." Was her simple reply, her eyes flashing in the setting dim of twilight overhead. He blinked, stiffening slightly at the unexpected answer.

"... Excuse me?"

She sighed, "I'm asking you to come to the Guild, have a drink, hang around... It's not that complicated."

"... What in the hell for?" He grumbled, looking just slightly annoyed at the less than explanatory reply. She tilted her head, smirking ever so slightly as she crossed her arms about her chest.

"Does there have to be a reason?" She murmured, "I'm asking nicely, I could have easily just snatched you and Teleported you to the Guild." She twirled her finger lightly in air before her a few times, his eyes narrowing at a familiar gesture when she brawled with Natsu- not that he'd call it a real brawl, though. Laxus huffed,

There was a flash of gold as he switched into his Lightning Form, sparking through the air in her direction before halting just in front of her again. Frea didn't budge an inch as he moved and came to be right in front of her, his head tilted at her, eyes narrowed to slits as she simply blinked at him.

"I know you enough to know you don't do anything without a reason." He grumbled, "I ain't a part of the Guild anymore, so there's gotta be something more to you wanting me to come to the Guild than to simply 'have a drink and hang around', Frea."

"Hmm, well nothing gets passed you does it?" She hummed in amusement, he growled under his breath. She shrugged, "Well then, fine- Makarov's appointing a new Guild Master. I figure even not being a member of the Guild, that's something you're interested in."

Laxus blinked in surprise, looking a little taken aback by the news. "The Old Man's retiring?" He grumbled,

"That'd be the plan." Frea smirked, Laxus sweatdropped slightly. "So, you coming?" She asked lightly, he sighed slightly.

"... I guess..." He grumbled lowly, she nodded.

"Good." She smiled, he grumbled under his breath at the response- but she turned on her heel and started back up the hill toward the Guild. He paused for only half a second, before starting to follow her.

His eyes trailed along the scars cutting across her shoulders and arms as he followed behind her without a word,

"... Frea." He murmured,

"Hmm?"

"... you know who the Old Man's appointing as Guild Master..?" He mumbled,

"Hoping it's you?" She asked easily, he stiffened.

"... hell no. I know it's not me, and I don't want it." He growled,

"Hehe..." Frea laughed lightly, Laxus blinked at the sound of it. "Well well, you really have changed, haven't you?" He stiffened, sweatdropping slightly.

"... tch... quiet." He snapped back lowly, she hardly seemed to care about the remark.

"To answer your question- yes. I do know who he's choosing." She continued without skipping a beat, "You want me to spoil the surprise, Lightning-Boy?"

"... why do you know before everyone else does?"

"I know more than everyone thinks I do." Was the light reply, and the annoying one.

"... what is with the non-answers and evading every question?" He huffed, Frea shrugged her shoulders in response and nothing else. "... you're more annoying than I remember."

"How harsh." Frea hummed, entirely non-bothered.

"... you're a pain in the ass."

"I've been told, many times... hehe, by Corbynn in particular, actually." She laughed, he growled under his breath.

 _If you've been told why are you still so damned difficult...?_

"... that's the little brat that's been hanging around you, yeah?" He asked, deciding better not to argue- it didn't seem likely it would get him anywhere.

"That's the one." Frea hummed, "Probably best not to call him a brat to his face though, he might throw you through a few walls."

"... I'd like to see him try." He grumbled back,

"Oh he'll manage it." Frea smirked, "He may not seem like much on the outside but that kid's extremely powerful. And his Magic isn't something near anyone can just avoid." She chuckled under her breath, "He's really good... and I should know, I'm training him."

Laxus' eyes narrowed at the reply, his thoughts immediately flashing to the stories and tales of her fights ans battles over the last seven years- and all the crazy, impossible things she'd laid out and told them she had done... All while acting like it was no big deal. Like it was nothing to her, trivial.

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been at least a little taken aback by what she'd told the Guild- there were several parts he could scarcely wrap his head around. She'd clearly changed, gotten stronger... But 'stronger' didn't seem the appropriate word to describe just how much she'd grown.

And trying to imagine how this suddenly strange, and unrecognizable person could ever train someone? Frea as she was before the Seven Years would never have struck him as the teaching type, and this new colder, more distant version of her seemed less capable.

"... The idea of you training anyone is a bit hard to swallow... Let alone a little kid." He grumbled aloud,

"Hmm?" She hummed, the coolness and the even tenor giving way to clear surprise. "Why? I trained Chase well enough, Corbynn's not so different."

"... I hadn't a clue you trained anyone up until a few days ago." Laxus replied, "... That Chase guy, the first I'd ever heard of him was when we showed back up at the Guild."

The figure of the Guild Hall rose among the trees ahead of him as Frea slowed to a half-halt.

"... Ah, right... I forgot, you never met Chase before heading to Tenrou." Frea mumbled, her hand running along the back of her neck. "... I guess it didn't occur to me you had no clue who he was, or that I'd taught him Energy Magic... So maybe... I guess I understand why you're hesitant on the idea of me as a Teacher."

Laxus drew up as he reached her shoulder, casting her a sideways glance and she smiled slightly, almost weakly.

"... Truth be told, I never thought myself capable of training anyone... It'd be fair to say I was just about as surprised as anyone on just how well I had managed to teach Chase anything." She admitted lightly, he blinked. She chuckled, almost nervously.

"... And I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing all the time, when I'm training Corbynn..." She added in lightly, Laxus blinked in shock at the admission though. Her eyes trailed toward the ground as her hand running along the back of her neck came to a halt,

"... but I'm trying... I have to try, I said I would..." She mumbled, nearly all to herself as Laxus simply held her in his gaze in silence. Her mind seemed to wander off for a few moments while he just watched her, his yes narrowing to slits when he saw something light up in those silver eyes- some shred of emotion igniting suddenly in her where she had been so off-handed, carefree and neutral since coming back.

 _Pain_

Laxus bit the inside of his cheek slightly, his eyes trailing away from her and toward the Guild Hall, his mind turning toward what Chase had said the day they'd come back.

 _"...Chess and Teach hardly ever went on a job without one another, Teach helped her train Corbynn, and took him under her wing. Those three were quite the Team... And Chess and Teach were nearly unstoppable." Chase's eyes fell closed. "... Nearly being the word. We took down both Black Chimera and Phoenix Tear with her around, and when we went after Death Bolt... We lost Chess."_

 _"... Death Bolt was the strongest of the Triad, and we knew that. But we didn't think we'd lose, and we certainly didn't think anyone would get killed. We were wrong... losing Chess broke everyone's hearts, especially Corbynn... But losing her just... Broke Frea." He shuddered slightly at the memory of it, his hand holding his cheek and his fingers absently tracing the scar running along the bridge of his nose. "... She wasn't right for a long time after it... Even more so since what happened with Mordren came into play only a month after Death Bolt. She hasn't been the same since then, slowly she's gotten back to being mostly her... But I don't think she'll be herself ever again."_

 _"... they... They were that close...?" Mira mumbled, her blue eyes shinning._

 _"... They were more than friends, if that's what you're asking." Chase smiled sadly, "But I don't expect Teach'll talk about with you guys, and it's probably better not to ask her. So its good you heard it from us first."_

 _... more than friends..._ could Frea have cared about this Chess woman so much that losing her turned her into this? This shell of a person who seemed to hide behind an unnatural facade of coolness and calm? This distant, subdued, unrecognizable person?

"... hmmm, anyway." Frea's voice caught his attention again. He glanced sideways toward her to see she was smiling at him with ease, "Better head on in, no use hanging out here all day." He quirked an eyebrow at her and the sudden shift in attitude, but he let it be.

"Whatever.." He grumbled, Frea nodded slightly as she started forward again, leading him with her as they entered the busy and bustling Guild.

"Enjoy the dog-pile, Lightning-Boy." Frea called easily, turning his way as they crossed the threshold and waving a hand as she sidestepped, a playful smile on her lips as he blinked.

"Wha-?"

"Laxus!"

"Boss!"

He jumped, his eyes snapping from Frea and toward the blur of Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow that charged his way upon seeing him enter the building.

Frea laughed to herself as she turned away, walking straight across the hall to take a seat at the end of the bar, joining Chase as he smiled her way.

"Hey, Teach." He said in greeting,

"Hey, Kid." Frea replied, he sighed in slight exasperation at the nickname.

"... not a kid..." He mumbled, Frea simply smirked at it. He tilted his head in the direction of the front door- where now Laxus was grimacing under the weight of the Thunder God Tribe on top of him. "... Any particular reason you went out of your way to bring him to the Guild?" Frea blinked, leaning back with her elbows atop the counter.

"Why not?" She replied easily,

"Well he's not a technical member of the Guild, for one." Chase went on, not at all perturbed by the lack of an answer. He was by now entirely used to it, and shrugged a little with a small smile her way. "And it would have to be something important to convince you to go track him down, especially having been in such an intent discussion with Makarov and Mavis earlier."

Frea smirked, her silver eyes glittering a little before they fell closed.

"Were you eavesdropping?" She asked coolly,

"Heh, only a little. I heard 'Grand Magic Games' and couldn't help myself." Chase smirked, "You were explaining the rules pretty in depth there, Makarov and Mavis seem pretty intent on joining the GMG, huh?"

"Seems that way." Frea said, "Why, you looking to join?"

"Ah, you know me Teach, I don't like fighting unless I really have to. The GMG has never really been my style." He chuckled,

"I know... most everyone else who've been here the last seven years aren't all that thrilled about them either." Frea sighed, "Even Solana, and she loves brawling... the GMG has never seemed to appeal to her at all."

"That's more because she thinks they're a waste of time from working jobs, than anything else." Chase reminded,

"... I wonder if she'll try and volunteer..." Frea mumbled half to herself, her silver eyes opening to find Corbynn in the hall- with Wendy and Carla, of course.

She smiled a little,

"... this year's GMG is going to be interesting, no doubt..." She hummed, Chase blinked.

He was about to ask her why she said so, but stopped himself when he noticed Makarov move purposely across the Guild floor and stand atop the bar- seriousness prickling from the Old man as he silenced the Guild with practiced ease.

Chase quirked a brow, his head tilting slightly- he cast Frea a glance and saw she had let her eyes close again, entirely uninterested by him or the Old Man or anything else.

"Listen up, Brats!" Makarov called, earning all eyes. "I have an important announcement to share, given all that his happened and how much has changed... I think it time another change come too." He sighed slightly,

"Today I will be announcing the Guild's 5th Guild Master." Makarov said firmly, his eyes glittering as a small, slightly shocked murmur passed from the Guild. He heeded the whispers no mind, his expression nothing but resolute as he swept his arm out to the side and toward the side of the small stage. "Fairy Tail's 5th Guild Master: Gildarts Clive!"

There was a silence that fell over the Hall as all eyes followed the gesture toward what remained an empty spot, Master stiffened, blinking several times after a few seconds of silence and no appearance of Gildarts, before whipping about in the direction, miffed.

"Where the hell is he?!" Makarov exclaimed hotly, the Guild shared confused and bewildered glances between themselves.

"... huh..." Chase mumbled, watching Makarov begin to march toward the end of the bar as Mirajane smiled nervously, trying to calm the Old Man down as he growled a few choice curses under his breath. "... that... clearly did not go as he planned..." He sighed, "... seems like Gildarts bailed... hehe..."

"Hmm?" Frea hummed, her silver eyes glimmering as his voice finally seemed to snap her from her thoughts and her own head. Chase smiled,

"Did you hear any of that, Teach?" He asked, she blinked. He took that as a no and chuckled softly, "... didn't think so, well- Makarov just retired, and handed the job to Gildarts- who is not here." Frea blinked, looking a little dazed, before he saw her eyes widen.

"... crrrraaaaaappp." She grumbled lowly, pinching the bridge of her nose before she stepped away from leaning against the counter, Chase gave her a questioning look. Her hand moved to her back pocket as she shook her head at herself, producing two neatly folded letters in her hand as she took a step past Chase and down the bar.

"... talking about all the GMG rules completely made me forget.." Frea sighed, Chase blinked.

"..heh...?"

"Oi, Old Man." Frea called, interrupting Makarov's hot grumbling back and forth with a slightly nervous Mirajane. He stopped, his head turning in her direction as she stopped just in front of him- holding out one of the letters toward him with a nearly bored look. Makarov quirked an eyebrow,

"He left a letter." She said flatly, "... I got so wrapped up talking earlier, I forgot to hand it off."

Makarov sweatdropped slightly, before quickly taking the letter from her and opening it. Frea didn't wait, she'd turned on her heel and headed in Cana's direction, before handing off the second letter without a word. She took up her place again at Chase's side, entirely unperturbed by the glances of question she got from him or anyone else on just _why_ she had the letters at all.

Makarov pulled the letter free and began to read it out loud quickly,

" 'Sorry Guys, but I'm not cut out to be a Guild Master. But while I am- I'm going to do two things.' " Master growled, his hold on the paper tightening slightly. " 'First... accept Laxus back into the Guild!?' " Makarov stared in shock at the paper as he read it, and Laxus visibly stiffened, while Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow looked extremely happy.

"The Boss is coming back?!"

"That's wonderful!"

" 'I'm convinced he learned his lesson, and the I think the idea of letting him back in is as good as any.' " Makarov continued reading, a bead of sweat falling down his face. " 'Though admittedly, I wasn't the first one to suggest it- it's not a bad idea at all, so why not?' "

Laxus looked a little stunned though, his jaw dropping slightly as his eyes narrowed to slits. Never in a million years would he have dared hope he'd be let back in the Guild after what he did, let alone by someone other than the Old Man... wait, Gildarts wasn't the one who came up with the idea?

Laxus blinked in surprise when the thought struck him, _why had Frea dragged him here in the first place?_

His eyes flicked over the heads of the people in the Guild and landed on her, her silver eyes glittering as she caught his gaze, and she smirked- shrugging her shoulders slightly before looking away again.

 _... you're kidding..._

" 'Second; I am appointing Makarov Dreyer as the 6th Guild Master.' " Master Makarov read aloud and his eyes widened in surprise, breaking Laxus from his thoughts.

"Me again?!" The Old Man snapped in exasperation, everyone else in the hall simply laughed.

" 'I will be traveling around for a while, and don't expect me to come back anytime soon. But I do know that you'll have managed to make Fairy Tail the strongest Guild in Fiore by the time I return. Good luck guys!' " Master finished the letter off in near agitation, before his eyes snapped closed and the latter scrunched up in his fists.

"That idiot... I'm never letting anybody take over as Master as long as I'm here! I'll be Master of this Guild till the day I die!" He growled hotly and everyone smiled, as they started laughing and drinking.

"To the 6th Guild Master!"

"Hehe, you ain't gettin' rid of us that easy, Old Man!"

"Question is now, how are we going to rise up to the top again?" Erza smiled softly,

"There's only one way to rise to the top fast!" Romeo announced to the redhead, who blinked.

"Not that..." Macao grumbled,

"Why not?" Romeo argued.

"Nobody's ever wanted to do it after the first time, why would we now?" Macao grumbled,

Most everyone who had been around when the Tenrou Team went missing for seven years, all raised their hands with small smiles and sighs.

"That's something I never want to do again." Alzack murmured and Bisca nodded while their daughter Asuka had her hand raised too.

"It's a waste of time and energy, Romeo.. better to just work some jobs." Solana sighed,

"Besides, we already know there's something shady going on." Moon mumbled, the bell on her earring twitching a little. "... it's probably better not to get involved if we can."

"True." Aisha and Uno mumbled,

"You guys don't have to do it, but we have everyone from Tenrou back now! They could enter, and we could win!" Romeo shot back,

"Everybody who went missing haven't gotten stronger over those seven years, we wouldn't stand a chance." Max told him.

"Excuse me." Master Makarov murmured.

"That doesn't matter, we were the strongest before they went missing, we could be the strongest again!" Romeo yelled, seeming not to have heard Master at all- everyone else was fixed on the younger boy, the Tenrou Team looking lost and confused.

"That's a big maybe." Wakaba grumbled,

"... uh... I'm lost." Wendy mumbled, her eyes trailing toward Corbynn who sighed.

"Yeah, I'm confused too. What are they talking about?" Lucy asked, she, Wendy, Carla, Levy, Gajeel, Juvia, Gray and Natsu all sitting at the same table at the russet haired boy who sweatdropped.

"They started a new thing while you guys were gone." Corbynn explained. "It's a competition held every year that decides who the strongest Guild in Fiore is. It's called the Grand Magic Games... and for the most part, the Guild hasn't been interested in doing them."

"Huh? Why not?" Natsu pressed,

"Apart from being busy all the time?" Corbynn mumbled, "... I guess the biggest reason is because Frea and Chase can't join, and most everyone else just has no interest."

"The Grand Magic Games?" Master's voice rose to call attention to himself as Romeo turned his way.

"Yes!" Romeo replied,

"Master, you are aware of this already?" Erza murmured, Makarov nodded.

"The First and I have already been discussing it, and I think it would be a good way to improve the Guild's reputation... as well as bring in some profit."

"How long before they start?" Erza asked.

"Three months." Mavis replied, appearing beside Master Makarov in a shimmer of gold.

"That's plenty of time to train and get stronger!" Natsu yelled. "We should totally do it Gramps!" Natsu grinned.

"You have no idea how strong the other Guilds are nowadays, Natsu." Solana told him,

"I'm not sure three months would be enough..." Aisha sighed,

"I have a few doubts on that as well." Iki, Uno, and Moon all said at once, in perfect unison.

"Ah, come on!" Gray and Natsu snapped,

"... we're just being realistic, three months can't seriously be enough time for you guys to catch up on seven years worth." Aisha murmured back,

"It does seem a little far-fetched, unfortunately..." Chase added with a nervous smile.

"I think they can do it."

People all around the Guild Hall went rigid in shock at the words, their heads and eyes snapping around to land on Frea when she said them, a small smile on her face and looking nonbothered as ever.

"W.. wha?!"

"You really think so, Frea?!" Natsu grinned,

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't meant it, Flame-Brain." She chuckled,

"You hear that?!"

"If Frea thinks we have a chance, why not go for it?"

Frea hummed under her breath as she smiled a bit more, Chase, Solana, Aisha, Iki, Uno, Moon and Corbynn looking her way warily and completely silent for a few long moments. They didn't get it, not how relaxed she was... not how sure she sounded. It was like she really did think there was a chance, even when logically there wouldn't have been.

Almost like she knew more than they did... and with Frea, that was a wary thought.

"Very well, then we're doing the Games!" Master Makarov announced. Half the Guild sweatdropped while the rest smiled, looking determined.

Corbynn bit the inside of his lip, his icy blue eyes glittering as he watched Frea warily for a long, long while- even as the Guild got louder and the Tenrou Team got more excited.

 _... what does she know.. that we don't...?_

* * *

 **Enjoy~!**

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	16. Chapter 16- Out Of Your League

**Chapter 16**  
 **Out Of Your League**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own** **OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

.:+:.

"Hmmm..." Frea hummed under her breath softly, her eyes locked to the familiar sight of the ceiling of her room overhead. Her hands were woven together over her stomach lightly, eyes glittering, laying in bed- and her mind probably couldn't be farther from her home.

Her senses were cast further than that, out toward the town, to the people- every single living person with their own unique Energy Signature. She recognized many, having spent years searching for them in the entirety of the town from that very same room- but it was the lack thereof of several Energy Signatures now she was really curious on.

There had been quite the wash of anticipation and excitement following the proposal to enter Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games. Not at all surprisingly, the Tenrou Team as a whole seemed more than ready to jump in and give them a try- for money, or fun, or bettering the Guild's reputation- it didn't really matter. They were willing, and excited... Even if it seemed something of a long shot.

She seemed to have encouraged it though, more than she realized she would- her simple comment of thinking the Guild 'had a chance' seemed to have caused quite the stir, that even _she_ had been a bit surprised by.

She wasn't even sure why she thought they had a chance, she just did- some feeling in her center that didn't go away. Anticipation, almost... there was something, some event coming, and she could feel it deep down inside of her. The same feeling that had her feeling that this years GMG were going to be something to remember...

Magnolia was lacking in persons of near everyone who had come back from Tenrou this morning- including Master Makarov...

 _I suppose everyone wants to get as much training in as they can for the Games, hmm..?_

Frea shook her head slightly, smiling a little to herself as she sighed- then halted.

 _Hmm?_

Her eyes narrowed at the ceiling, a flash of gold appearing in her minds' eye, a flicker of a thing that made her nose twitch and her body tingle slightly.

 _... now what's this..?_

Her eyes flashed in the dim of the room as she tapped her fingers slightly,

 _... are you coming to see me?_

She smirked,

 _Now that is odd of you._

* * *

"Morning, Sunshine." Frea smirked, her hand tapping lightly against the doorframe as she leaned against it. The door swung open in front of her, the bed set straight across from it groaning as Corbynn shifted atop it, his hair all messed up and blue eyes glittering frostily as he peeked his head up from the comforter.

"... what do you want...?" Corbynn growled lowly, Frea smirked a tiny bit more at the less than enthused reaction.

"Mind cooking me up some breakfast real fast?" Frea smiled, his eyes narrowed.

"What in the hell for..?" He growled, letting his head fall back under the comforter so his face was hidden and his voice became muffled- Frea heard him easily still, as he knew she could.

"I'm hungry, of course." Frea answered easily. "Besides, you're supposed to be hanging around with Wendy and Carla today, before they head off to train, yeah? Can't sleep the whole day away, kiddo."

Corbynn didn't answer straight away, and though she couldn't see his face- he was frowning slightly, because he immediately picked up on 'you're supposed'.

"... and where the hell are you gonna be?" He asked immediately, "Aren't you coming with?"

"We'll see, maybe." Frea replied coolly, Corbynn sat up straight, throwing the cover off his head and giving her a flat stare from across the room she only smiled at. She stepped away from the door with a wave over her shoulder,

"Take your time.. just not too much, kiddo. Hehe~"

Corbynn watched her go, before the door shut between them with a snap of her fingers, his stare icy on the door as he sighed under his breath.

She was acting off... she had been since the Tenrou people came back. But this was a little more so- because he could tell when she wasn't telling him about something, and it pissed him off when she did that.

He sweatdropped slightly,

... usually when Frea kept secrets it was because she was trying to protect him... or ditch him.

And either way he did not like the sound of it.

 _... she's not... losing it... right...?_

He growled, rolling out of bed and getting himself ready, before starting to stalk toward the kitchen. Frea was seated at the bar with a small smile and she turned to him and his arrival. She sat in content silence for him to finish cooking up some food- clapped her hands together and dipped her head toward him with a smile.

"Thank you."

They hardly said anything to one another as she ate, and he settled across from her, nibbling at a bit of the food while eyeing her constantly.

 _Why is she acting weird?_

His eyes narrowed at the familiar gesture of her head tilting to the side, her eyes closed- it usually meant she was paying attention to some Energy Signature or other- but the weirdest thing of all was she _smirked_.

"... hehe... he's _definitely_ headed this way..." She chuckled lowly, her silver eyes glittering in amusement as she glanced toward the door. "It seems like I probably won't be joining you today, kiddo."

"Who?" He asked instantly, and why does she seem... _excited?_

He wasn't sure he liked this look.

"You'll see pretty soon." Frea hummed, leaning back in her chair as she lift her hands above her in a stretch. She linked her hands together and cracked her knuckles with another small smirk,

 _Now you've got me interested- you've never dropped by for a visit before, Lightning-Boy._

Frea stood up from her chair, oblivious to the icy stare Corbynn had on her or uncaring- she settled her hands on her hips and shook her head at herself.

 _I hope you're coming for something exciting... somehow I am already bored of not working any jobs._

Corbynn narrowed his eyes at her, biting down on the inside of his cheek and not all that pleased with the lack of an actual answer- even from her, this much evasiveness was... Weird.

"Shouldn't you be heading off to meet Wendy?" Frea asked in an oh so not so subtle way of reminding him his time constraints- and still avoiding the topic. He stepped down from his stool when gave her a stare, she just smiled and waved a hand at him.

"Come on Kiddo, I'll see ya out the door." She chuckled, leaving him behind just slightly as she started toward said door. He followed her slowly,

 _... What in the hell...? Out the 'door'?_

His attention diverted passed her as they exited the house, and his jaw dropped slightly.

 _What the hell?! Ain't that... That's that guy who just got let back into the Guild, right..?!_

And sure enough, there stood a large blonde man standing not a few feet up from the house, his arms crossed about his chest and eyeing the smirk that Frea set on him warily. Corbynn drew up beside her a little, glancing between her and the other man quickly.

"... This is who you were waiting for?" Corbynn asked lowly, Frea hummed.

"Sure is." She smirked, Laxus narrowed his eyes at the reply.

"... You knew I was coming?" He grumbled, Frea's hands fell on her hips as she chuckled.

"I could feel your Energy Signature getting closer since you left your house." She replied easily, Corbynn grimaced slightly at that. "But away from that, am I to hope this surprise visit is because you want someone to spar with?"

Laxus huffed a little, though for a small minute it looked like he smirked at the question- Corbynn however, looked thoroughly unamused at the question.

"Everyone keeps saying you've turned into the strongest Wizard in all of Fairy Tail, and you've even told me yourself I don't stand a chance." He grumbled, "Now I don't wanna just take your word for it, but if you're really that good, it won't do any harm to throw everything I have at you, will it? I can't go all out against anyone in the Guild even if I want to, but I take it that won't be a problem against you?"

Frea smirked, her eyes flashing in clear amusement as well as intrigue to the words.

"Not a problem at all." She hummed, "I'm a bit bored already, so it'll be interesting to see what you bring to the table, Lightning-Boy." Her smirk turned into something a slight bit more malicious and cold, for just a split second.

"Maybe you'll start to see just how far behind you are, Laxus."

It was gone as she smiled down at Corbynn beside her,

"We'll be back by the end of the day, Kiddo." Frea told him lightly. Corbynn quirked an eyebrow, looking less than thrilled with the words. "Best we go somewhere we don't have a chance of burning down the whole forest."

Corbynn blinked, a look of knowing flashing across his expression for a moment before he scowled.

"You ain't ditching me." He snapped lowly, Frea chuckled.

"You were supposed to be hanging out with Wendy and Carla today, weren't you?" He stiffened, biting the inside of his cheek at being reminded so suddenly- but he didn't want to just let her run off to fight.

"You're still not healed, idiot." He shot back, she shook her head at him.

"I'm fine, besides- that's better for Lighting-for-Brains anyway, it'll level the playing field a bit for him." She smiled, she heard Laxus let out a huff at the words. Her hand fell on his head as she ruffled his hair a bit, he just frowned.

"Honestly, don't worry about it. I'll be careful, promise- now you go have fun with the girls, alright?" She chuckled, pulling her hand back. Her silver gaze cast toward Laxus, and her hand raised beside her. "You ready to go, Laxus?" He blinked at the question, unsure of what it meant- but she never waited for a reply anyway.

She twirled her finger in air as silver started to circle around her, and Laxus both- they were out of sight in seconds and Corbynn was left alone in front of the house.

"... Tch... I can't even tell if she I losing it or not... Shit."

* * *

There was the sensation of his feet leaving the ground for a small moment as silver light blinded him- and then the sound of window through the trees hit his senses, and his nose was filled with the scent of plants and wildlife- but not the same ones from seconds before.

This was a completely different forest, and he had no clue where- it was lush and green around them as his eyes moved across it quickly, before landing on Frea a few feet across from him. She wasn't in the clothes she had been beforehand, she had changed into those clothes she had had on the day the Tenrou Team had come back to the Guild- spare something knew, a pendant on the collar around her neck. Sunlight filtering through the trees flashed as it hit and bounced off the metal,

"Welcome to my Mountain." she hummed, he blinked. "Feel free to destroy whatever you want, we have the whole mountain to ourselves- so don't hold back." His eyes narrowed as he watched her demeanor shift suddenly, her smile fading entirely.

"You said you wanted to spar. Well, have at it." Frea murmured lowly, a neutral and even bored look suddenly stretching about her face. Her hand moved up, her finger curling in her direction in a small flash of a challenge. "You get one whole day before you head off with the Thunder God Tribe. One whole day, you can throw everything you have at me- no worries about hurting me, going too hard- none of that." He stiffened slightly, his eyes narrowing slightly at her- the Energy Dragon Slayer that was looking at him with the most cold and steely gaze he had ever seen from her.

"Try and give me a bit of a challenge if you can, Laxus."

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 **Lol this story hasn't been updated in a long while! Sorry about that, hopefully I can post a bit more now that Slain Among Ice and Fire is moving into the GMG a bit more ~!**

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